A  WORLD'S  FAIR 
NUMBER. 


The  Columbian  Exposition  de- 
scribed by  Ex- President  Harrison, 
Walter  Besant  and  many  others, 
with  nearly  100  illustrations. 


A  World's  Fair:  Illustrated. 

Introductory :  The  World's  College  of  Democracy. 
A  First  Impression.            WALTER  BESANT 
The  Foreign  Buildings.       PRICE  COLLIER •• 
Notes  on  Industrial  Art  in  the  Manufactures  Building. 
Illustrated.  GEORGE   F.  KUNZ 

An  Outsider's  View  of  the  Woman's  Exhibit. 

Illustrated.  ELLEN  M.  HENROTIN,--- 


528 
540 

547 
560 


Foreiqn 


iident.  The  Woman's  Branch  of  the  Congress  Auxiliary. 

at  the  Fair. 


Illustrated.  JULIAN  HAWTHORNE---     567 

Electricity  at  the  Fair.        MURAT  HALSTEAD nius.   577 
Transportation,  Old  and  New 

Illustrated.  j.  B.  WALKER 584 

Mines  and  Metallurgy. 

Illustrated.  p.  J.  V.  SKIFF,  Chief  Dept.--    592 

Chicago's  Entertainment  of  Distinguished  Visitors. 

H.  C.  CHATFIELD-TAYLOR6oo 

Lullaby.   (POEM.)  ALICE  A.  SEWALL  mus.   602 

The  Government  Exhibit.    F.  T.  BICKFORD,  chief  DePt.    603 
Ethnology  at  the  Exposition. 

FRANZ  BOAS,  Chief  Dept, ...     607 

Points  of  Interest.  EX-PRESIDENT  HARRISON^™ 

In  the  World  Of  Art  and  Letters.    Headpiece  by  J.  Habert-J>ys.     6l2 
FRANCISQUE    SARCEY,    H.    H.    BOYESEN,    ANDREW  LANG, 
THOMAS  A.  JANVIER.     Twenty  Books  of  the  Month. 

Alienation.   (POEM.)        .         EDWARD  L.  WHITE 618 

The  PrOgreSS  Of   Science.     Headpiece  by  *•  Habert-Ityg.     619 

Astronomical  Note,  C.  A.  YOUNG.  Electric  Welding,  GEORGE 
H.  KNIGHT.  Chemistry  at  the  Fair,  S.  E.  TILLMAN,  COL. 
U.  S.  A.  JHamonds  at  the  Fair,  GEORGE  F.  BECKER.  An 
JSlectric  Comparison,  A.  E.  DOLBEAR. 

WILLIAM  R.  LIGHTON--.  624 

J.V.CHENEY (POEM.)  628 

Illus.  by  Alice  Barber 

MARK   TWAIN 629 

W.   D.  HOWELLS 635 


Jos6. 

The  Stronghold  of  the  Gods. 
Is  He  Living  or  is  He  Dead  1 
Stephens. 

A  Traveller  from  Altruria. 


VOL.  XV. 


OHN  BRI5BEN  WALKER 
ARTHUR  5HERBURNE  HARDY 


EDITOR 

ASSOCIATE. 
EDITOR. 


PRICE,   12%,  CENTS. 


NATURE 

does    not 
make 

P 
U 
R 

E 
S 
A 
L 
T, 

Nash, 
Whiton 

&Co. 

do — and  they  call  it  WORCESTER 
SALT.     Suited  to  every  use. 

NASH,  WHITON  &  CO., 

NEW  YORK. 

N.  B. — There  are  no  lumps  in  "Worcester  Salt 


A  Midsummer  Night's  Dream 

is  very,  very  often  ruthlessly  dis- 
turbed by  the  unwelcome  song 
and  burning  touch  of  a  young- 
lady  mosquito.  Place  a  bottle 
of  POND'S  EXTRACT  by  your  bed- 
side, bathe  the  punctured  spot 
therewith,  then  wrap  the  drapery 
of  your  couch  about  you  and  lie 
down  to  pleasant  dreams.  You 
will  live  through  it  without  the 
POND'S  EXTRACT,  the  attack  is 
not  fatal,  unless  to  the  mosquito, 
but  oh,  my !  how  much  comfort 
there  is  in  a  bottle  of  POND'S 
EXTRACT,  especially  in  hot  wea- 
ther! Use  it  for  anything  in- 
flammatory. Always  efficacious. 

« 

Now,  don't  go  and  buy  something  else  and 
blame  us  because  it  won't  .do  what  we  say 
POND'S  EXTRACT  will  do. 

POND'S  EXTRACT  Co., 

76  Fifth  Ave.,  New  York. 


This  shows  the  EXHIBIT  of  the." 
world-known 

LiebigCOMPANY'S 

EXTRACT  OF  BEEF 

At  the 

WORLD'S  FAIR 

CHICAGO. 


It  is  in  the  northeast  part  of  the 

AGRICULTURAL  BUILDING, 

north  aisle,  in  the  Uruguay 

Department. 


Every  visitor  at  our  interesting  exhibit  receives,  free  of  charge,  a  cup  of  LIE  BIG  COMPANY'S 
delicious,  refreshing  Beef  Tea.     Note  where  we  are  and  call  when  you  visit  the  Fair. 


The  Cosmopolitan  Magazine,  Sixth  Avenue  and  Eleventh  Street,  New  York. 


AFTER  THE  WORLD'S  FAIR,  15 

WITH  NEARLY  200  ILLUSTRATIONS.        ?ENTT 


§^2w^mg^iiraW(/W 

VEwwffifts^wm 


Frontispieces;  by  Yiergeand  "The Basin  Illuminated."  ..  130 
A  Farewell  to  the  White  City.  PA^L  BOURGETJ«MS.  I33 
Lessons  of  the  Fair.  Jtfw*.  JOHN  j.  INGALLS  ....  I4I 
A  White  Umbrella  at  the  Fair.  F-  HOPKINSON  SMITH  I50 

Illustrated  by  the  Author. 

Coast  Gun  L  33.  (POEM.)  MARTHA  F.  CROW  ..    I57 

Illustrated  by  Ethel  Webling. 

People  Who  Did  Not  Go  to  the  Fair.   158 

Illustrated.  ROBERT  GRANT 

Amateur  Photography  at  the  Fair.   ::--_::-_i-_ii-^-_-- l65 

Illustrated. 


H.   H.   MARKLEY 
H.  H.  BOYESEN   . 


173 


H.  C.  TAYLOR   l87 


A.  S.  HARDY 
LYMAN  J.  GAGE 
MARK  TWAIN. 


I9S 

2OI 

207 


A  New  World  Fable,   nius. 
A  Nation  of  Discoverers,  ittus. 
Last  Impressions,   ittus. 
The  Finances  of  the  Exposition. 

Travelling  With  a  Reformer. 

Illustrated  by  Dan  Beard. 

Letters  of  an  Altrurian  Traveller.    218 

Illustrated.  W.  D.  HOWELLS. 

One  Fatherland.  (POEM.)  CHARLOTTE  F.  BATES  232 

American  Notes.— II.  In  the  Year  of  the  Fair,    illustrated 

by  F.  G.  Attwood.  WALTER  BESANT  ...    233 

Apres.    Ittus.  by  Vierge.  GUY  DE  MAUPASSANT  241 


244 


Chicago  at  Rest.   (POEM.)  MARION  c.  SMITH 

In  the  World  of  Art  and  Letters.  Headpiece  bv  j.  nabert-i>vs.   245 
FKANCISQUE    SAPCEY,  A.  LANG,    THOS.  A.  JANVIER,   i. 

ZANGWILL,  AGNES  REPPLIER.    Twenty  Books  of  the  Monti'. 

The  PrOgreSS  Of  SCienCe.     Headpiece  by  J.  Habert-Dya 252 

\atnre,  CAMILLE  FLAMMARION.  Molecules  and  Atoms,  S. 
E.  TILLMAN,  COL.  U.  S.  A.  The  Electric  Search-Idffht,  A. 
E.  DOLBEAR.  The  Latest  Determination  of  the  Sun's  ZHs- 
tancf,  C.  A.  YOUNG.  Geology  and  Cosmogony,  GEORGE  P. 
BECKER.  WLieatt+n  «nd  the  Fair,  JOHN  S.  WHITE. 


VOL.  XVI, 


fOHN  BRI5BEN  WALKER 
ARTHUR  5HERBURNE  HARDY 


EDITOR 

ASSOCIATE. 
EDITOR. 


Illustrated  by  Vierge,  Reinhart,  Gibson,  F.  Hopkinson  Smith,  Kemb  e. 
Remington.  Fenn.  Small.  Attwood.  Dan  Beard.  Knight  and  Henckel. 


The  best  baking  powder  made  is,  as  shown 
by  analysis,  the  "Royal." 


Com'r  of  Health,  New-  York  City. 


BAKING  - 

-POWDE 


I   regard   the  Royal  Baking  Powder  as  the 
best  manufactured. 


Author  of  "Common  Sense  in  the  Household. 


The  Cosmopolitan  Magazine,  Sixth  Avenue  and  Elevtnth  Street,  New  York. 


THE   COSMOPOLITAN. 

From  every  man  according  to  his  ability  :    to  everyone  according  to  his  needs. 

VOL.  XV.  SEPTEMBER,    1893.  No.  5. 


Copyright,  1893,  By  J.  R.  WALKER. 


INTRODUCTORY: 
THE  WORLD'S   COLLEGE  OF  DEMOCRACY. 

BY  JOHN  BRISBEN  WALKER. 

A  SENSE  of  surprise,  of  delight,  a  suggestion 
of  enchanted  regions,  come  to  one  as  he  stands 
for  the  first  time  in  the  great  court  of  the  World's 
Fair.  During  the  first  hour  spent  in  this  region  of 
wonders  three  thoughts  take  possession  of  the  mind, 
and  when,  a  week  later,  one  is  passing  for  the  last  time 
down  the  Court  of  Honor  toward  the  Exposition  Ter- 
minal Station,  those  thoughts  are  still  predominant. 
The  first  is  of  the  vast  change  which  this  object 
lesson  will  make  in  the  minds  of  the  millions  who 
visit  it,  broadening,  opening,  lighting  up  dark  corners, 
bringing  them  in  sympathy  with  their  fellow-men, 
sending  them  back  to  homes,  however  humble,  with 
thoughts  that  will  beautify  and  gladden  entire  life- 
times, furnishing  a  topic  for  countless  winter  nights' 
exchanges  of  opinions  and  themes  of  stories  for  gen- 
erations yet  unborn. 

It  is  safe  to  estimate  that  our  civilization  and  ad- 
vance in  the  liberal  arts  will  be  moved  forward  by  a 
quarter  of  a  centurj7  as  the  result  of  this  marvellous 
Exposition.  The  second  thought  which  forces  itself 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


upon  the  mind,  and  remains  as  an  under- 
tone at  every  minute  of  a  memorable 
week's  stay,  is  the  ever  present  proof 
of  the  pleasure  which  this  enchanted  land 
brings  to  the  millions  who  are  visiting  it. 
What  a  satisfaction  to  the  men  who  have 
given  their  time  and  labor  to  building  up 
this  great  work,  to  see  upon  the  faces  of 
the  throngs  who  are  moving  up  and  down 
every  aisle  and  every  avenue,  proofs  of 
such  pleasure,  satisfaction  and  jo> ,  such 
complete  and  absolute  surrender  to  the 
surrounding  beauty  and  interest,  as  come 
but  seldom  into  the  lives  of  even  the 
luckiest  of  humanity. 

It  was  my  good  fortune  to  be  present  on 
the  Fourth  of  July,  when  the  number  of 
people  on  the  grounds  exceeded  three 
hundred  and  five  thousand.  It  was  most 
interesting  to  study  the  faces,  to  note  the 
looks  of  appreciation,  to  hear  the  ex- 
clamations of  admiration,  to  listen  to 
comment  which  was  intelligent  even  when 
the  garb  was  homely.  I  walked  through 
many  miles  of  avenues  on  that  day:  ev- 


er3'where  unmistakable  signs  of  enjoy- 
ment, everywhere  the  comment  of  intelli- 
gent appreciation,  and  above  all,  every- 
where the  utmost  good-nature.  That,  to 
my  mind,  was  the  most  marvellous  ex- 
hibition of  all,  that  in  a  crowd  containing 
more  than  three  hundred  thousand  souls 
there  was  not  .so  far  as  I  was  able  to  see, 
and  I  carefully  searched  for  it,  one  ill- 
tempered  face,  one  drunken  man.  What 
a  change  has  come  over  our  civilization 
in  the  past  twenty-five  years  !  Such  a 
crowd,  anywhere  in  the  United  States,  be- 
fore the  sixties  or  seventies,  would  have 
been  the  .scene  of  endless  personal  con- 
flicts, of  drunkenness,  not  of  the  hun- 
dreds, but  of  tens  of  thousands,  and 
women  and  children  could  not  have  taken 
part  in  such  a  gathering  without  the  risk 
of  personal  injury.  Yet  here  were  only 
happy,  smiling  faces,  women  and  children 
moving  with  perfect  freedom,  without 
even  a  thought  that  they  were  in  the 
largest  crowd  of  people  ever  brought  to- 
gether within  a  single  enclosure  upon  the 


THE  CENTRAL  ARCH  OF  THE  PERISTYLE 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


519 


A     PRODTTCER. 


American  continent,  all  feeling  kindly 
toward  each  other,  all  taking  part  in  the 
general  joy  and  universal  pride  that  this 
was  the  creation  of  their  countrymen. 
The  contrasts  between  the  stage-coach  and 
giant  locomotive,  between  the  birch-bark 
letter  of  the  Indian  and  the  telautograph 
message  of  Gray,  the  canoe  of  the  Esqui- 
maux and  the  electric  railway,  were  not  so 
great  as  that  between  the  customs  prev- 
alent in  my  boyhood  and  this  realization 
of  hopes  for  a  new  civilization  in  the 
midst  of  which  I  walked  on  this  Fourth 
of  July,  1893.* 

What  a  collection  of  people  amidst 
what  magnificent  surroundings!  No 
monarch  in  the  history  of  the  world  ever 
had  such  palaces  erected.  No  monarch 
could  have  brought  together  such  objects 
of  interest.  Not  even  the  wealthiest  of 
monarchs  could  have  expended  a  sum, 


which  probably  two  hundred  millions 
does  not  represent,  in  such  palaces  and 
such  exhibits.  And  these  palaces  are  not 
the  whim  of  one  man  for  the  pleasure  of 
himself  and  his  courtiers,  but  the  first 
great  creation  of  a  government  intended 
originally  to  be  of  the  people,  for  the 
people  and  by  the  people,  a  government 
that  perhaps  has  not  yet  attained  that 
ideal,  but  promises  in  the  early  future 
to  scientifically  solve  the  problems  of 
distribution — a  consummation  which  will 
give  to  the  common  people  the  riches 
which  they  create,  just  as  in  this  ex- 
hibition every  bounty  of  nature,  every 
magnificence  of  architecture,  every  crea- 
tion of  art,  is  brought  together  and 
opened  for  the  benefit,  not  of  the  rich, 
not  of  the  great,  not  of  genius,  not  of  the 
fortunate  class,  not  of  the  few  but  of 
all,  including  the  humblest  citizen.  Nor 


*  A  word  here  in  regard  to  the  Columbian  Guard.  A  week's  intercourse  with  these  officers  gives  one  a 
new  idea  of  what  a  police  force  may  be  :  not  bulky,  burly  punishers  by  physical  violence  of  the  law's  in- 
fractions, but  public  servants,  placed  there  to  aid  in  maintaining  the  law  by  advice  and  assistance,  ready  at 
all  times  with  kindly  word  of  information  alert  to  the  necessities  of  visitors  and  determined  to  make  the  stay 
of  each  in  their  precincts  as  pleasant  as  possible.  They  convey  the  modern  socialistic  idea  ofgentlemen  serving 
their  fellow-men  ;  gentlemen  by  the  courtesy  of  their  actions,  recognized  as  gentlemen  and  treated  as  gentle- 
men by  all  with  whom  they  come  in  contact.  I  had  frequent  occasion  to  call  upon  these  guardians,  111  hav- 
ing photographed  the  various  illustrations  required  for  this  number,  and  I  found  them  at  all  times  anxious 
to  aid  in  what  was  evidently  a  useful  purpose,  and  handling  the  crowds  with  a  gentleness  and  consideration 
that  made  the  stay  of  all  persons  pleasanter  within  the  grounds.  It  is  evident  that  the  burly  policeman  is 
likely  to  be  relegated  to  the  niche  adjoining  that  occupied  by  the  volunteer  fireman. 


:' 


LOOKING   INWARD   FROM   THE   PERISTYLE. 


did  the  wisdom  which  has  brought  to- 
gether these  many  people  from  every  part 
of  our  vast  nation  intend  this  fairy  land 
of  democracy  simply  as  a  means  of 
pleasure. 

Looking  down  the  great  basin  toward 
the  Statue  of  Liberty,  toward  the  peri- 
style with  its  magnificent  columns,  sur- 
mounted by  its  exquisite  groups,  the 
whole  seems  a  creation  for  pleasure. 
Turning  one's  back  upon  the  peristyle, 
with  its  glimpses  of  blue  lake  between 
the  columns,  the  whole  aspect  changes. 
Read  the  inscriptions  over  the  great 
building  on  the  right,  which  covers 
more  than  forty  acres  of  floor  space : 
"  Liberal  Arts  ;"  over  the  great  building 
which  stretches  down  the  length  of  the 
basin  on  the  left  :  • '  Agriculture  ; ' '  the 
other  magnificent  structure  on  the  left 
and  beyond:  "Machinery  Hall;"  the 
inscriptions  over  those  two  structures  of 
beautiful  proportions  on  the  right  of  the 
great  Hall  of  Administration  :  ' '  Mining ' ' 
and  "  Electricity."  The  scene  takes  on  a 


new  meaning.  It  is  no  longer  a  play- 
ground ;  this  is  the  great  College  of  De- 
mocracy. It  is  a  school  in  which  the 
millions  are  entered  for  a  course  of  in- 
struction, which  embraces  the  following 
branches  : 

1.  Political;  government  by  the  people. 

2.  Ethical ;  the  love  of  our  fellow-men. 

3.  Art  ;   the  knowledge  and   apprecia- 
tion of  the  beautiful. 

4.  Science  ;  not  alchemy  and  astrology, 
but  modern  science,  useful,   up  to  date, 
made  to  serve  the  purposes  not  of  the  few 
but  of  the  many. 

5.  Agriculture ;   the  noblest  of  man's 
pursuits,    with    its    thousand    attendant 
branches. 

6.  The  study  of  transportation,  of  such 
vast  import  to  every  human  being  ;    an 
object  lesson  going  to  show  that  transpor- 
tation, from  the  movement  of  a  letter  or 
telegraph  message  up  to  the  carriage  of 
human   bodies,    is   essentially  a  govern- 
mental function  and  that  only  when  it  is 
taken  from  the  hands  of  individuals,  who 


The  Editor  of  THE  COSMOPOLITAN  desires  to  acknowledge  the  courtesy  of  Mr.  C.  D.  Arnold,  the  offi- 
ial  photographer  of  the  World's  Fair,  who  personally  superintended  the  taking  of  the  photographs  for 


.          „     . 
this  series  of  articles. 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


521 


522 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


use  it  to  create  great  fortunes  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  many,  will  it  cease  to  be  a 
menace  to  our  freedom  and  become  the 
economic  factor  which  it  should  be  in  our 
development  as  a  people. 

7.  Woman's  place  ;   her  equality  with 
men  ;  her  ability  and  right  to  fill  places 
in  life  on  the  plane  occupied  by  the  male 
sex. 

8.  The    functions    of    government    as 
shown  in  the  Governmental  exhibit. 

9.  A  school  of  applied  mechanics  and 
engineering^. 


South  American  neighbors,  and  perhaps 
those  of  Europe  as  well.  Each  student 
takes  in  a  smattering  of  the  entire  course, 
and  when  he  has  taken  his  degree  in  the 
general  college  turns  his  steps  to  the 
school  of  his  own  special  branch,  where 
his  education  becomes  specific.  Is  he  an 
engineer  ?  He  finds  in  the  great  trusses 
of  the  Liberal  Arts  building,  the  con- 
struction of  the  Ferris  wheel,  whose  thir- 
teen-ton cars  holding  filteen  hundred  peo- 
ple, move  around  a  circumference  of  785 
feet,  the  highest  car  hanging  264  feet 


ON     THE    LAGOON. 


But  why  go  on  ?  The  list  does  not 
readily  resolve  itself,  even  under  these 
general  classifications.  It  is  endless  in 
its  subdivisions.  Perhaps  no  better  idea 
can  be  given  of  the  vastness  of  the  ex- 
hibit than  by  repeating  the  calculations, 
made  recently  by  someone  familiar  with 
the  subject  as  a  whole,  to  the  effect  that 
two  minutes  spent  upon  each  exhibit  at 
the  Fair  would  consume  a  period  of  thir- 
ty-two years. 

To  this  .school  students  are  being  drawn 
by  every  train  from  the  most  remote  quar- 
ters of  the  land,  and  it  will  even  have  its 
influence  upon  the  civilization  of  our 


above  the  ground,  in  the  exhibits  of  the 
Transportation  building  or  Machinery 
Hall,  the  special  subjects  which  attract 
his  attention.  Is  he  an  humble  shoe- 
maker, or  perhaps  a  manufacturer  of 
shoes  ?  He  finds  in  a  building  devoted 
to  the  leather  art  the  latest  patterns,  the 
latest  processes  of  tanning,  the  latest 
machinery  for  manufacture,  the  most 
novel  and  artistic  designs  in  the  thousand 
and  one  objects  to  which  leather  is  de- 
voted. If  an  artist,  he  has  beauties 
which  will  require  days  of  study  in  the 
great  Art  Palace  at  the  north  end  of  the 
Lagoon,  where  are  endless  mazes  and 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


523 


labyrinths  of  walls  covered  with  the  work 
of  the  artists  of  all  lands.  A  printer 
finds  in  Machinery  Hall  the  most  modern 
typesetting  machinery,  presses  which 
turn  out  their  ninety  thousand  per  hour, 
folding  machines  of  the  most  recent, 
delicate  and  complicated  pattern.  If  a 
horticulturist,  he  wanders  under  acres 
of  glass,  examining  fruits  and  plants 
brought  hither  at  great  expense  from  dis- 
tant lands,  and  known  to  him  only  by 
book  illustration.  If  a  fanner,  he  has 
acre  upon  acre  of  the  productions  of  other 
lands  to  compare  ;  he  has  in  the  Govern- 
ment building  an  opportunity  to  make  a 
scientific  study  of  the  pests  which  infest 
his  crops,  or  the  most  scientific  methods 
of  fertilizing. 


If  an  electrical  engineer,  he  finds  the 
most  perfect  works  of  all  the  great  elec- 
trical establishments  which  have  sprung 
up  almost  within  the  past  ten  years, 
and  which  now  constitute  so  important 
a  branch  of  our  industry.  But  it  is  not 
the  expert  alone  who  seeks  the  electrical 
exhibit.  It  is  the  one  which  interests 
all  comers,  where  all  are  open-mouthed 
at  the  marvels  of  invention  and  discovery 
of  the  past  quarter  of  a  century,  where 
men  stand  trying  to  gaze  into  the  future 
and  ponder  upon  the  marvellous  uses 
of  electricity  which  must  be  in  store  for 
us  at  no  very  distant  date. 

One  electrical  engineer  said  to  me : 
1 '  You  have  here  everything  that  was  un- 
dreamed of  twenty-five  years  ago.  You 
have  here  the  culmination  of  invention  and 
science.  You  see  here  the  acme  of  modern 
progress.  It  is  worth  while  to  note  this 
carefully,  because  if  we  should  have  an- 
other exhibit  twenty  five  years  from  now 
the  probability  is  that  not  one  of  the 
things  which  seem  so  wonderful  to  you 
now,  will  then  be  valued.  They  will  have 
passed  into  the  realm  of  those  which  were 
in  the  beginning  but  have  become  useless. 
They  will  have  been  superseded  by  in- 
ventions so  much  more  useful,  so  much 
more  wonderful,  that  it  is  barely  within 
the  compass  of  any  mind  to  even  conceive 


THE    FERKIS    WHEEL. 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


of  what  the  future  has  in  store  for  us." 
And  so  each  student,  after  completing 
his  curriculum  in  the  general  university, 
turns  to  the  school  of  his  own  applied  art 
or  scienca,  and  having  completed  his  edu- 
cation, will  go  back  to  his  bench  or  work- 
shop or  laboratory  with  new  thoughts, 
with  a  broader  comprehension  of  the  pos- 
sibilities, with  enthusiasm  for  what  the 
future  holds  in  store  for  him. 

Nor  has  the  world  ever  seen  such  a 
course  of  lectures  as  has  been  delivered 
at  this  university  under  the  auspices  of 
the  World's  Congress  Auxiliary.  They 
have  been  given  on  every  branch  of  sci- 
ence, every  branch  of  art,  every  branch  of 
religion.  Art,  medicine,  journalism,  au- 
thorship, philology,  all  have  sent  to  these 
congresses  their  greatest  thinkers.  The 
very  brain  of  the  world  may  be  said  to 
have  been  concentrated  in  the  lecture 
halls  of  this  University  of  Democracy. 
Leaders  in  all  branches  of  thought  have 
come  together  for  consultation  and  com- 
parison of  notes.  What  will  not  be  the 
result  to  these  leaders  themselves  ?  What 
new  ideas  will  they  not  receive?  What 
great  results  will  not  be  evolved  from  this 
meeting  of  brains? 


But  is  it  all  work  and  no  play?  On 
the  contrary,  after  his  morning  at  the 
university  has  been  spent  in  study,  the 
student  wends  his  way  to  the  playground, 
the  Plaisance.  And  no  afternoon  could 
be  devoted  more  delightfully.  Hither 
have  come  the  nations  of  the  earth  to 
minister  to  his  enjoyment:  the  Arab,  on 
his  splendid  steed  with  nostrils  dilated 
and  champing  at  the  bit,  spurs,  blunted 
lance  in  hand,  gallops  after  his  fellow. 
And  we  may  see  the  sports  of  the  desert 
and  take  part  in  the  applause  which 
comes  up  from  the  encampment  of  Arab 
w7omen  and  children  on  the  other  side  of 
the  enclosure,  when  one  spearman  has 
planted  his  blunted  lance  fairly  in  the 
back  of  the  man  he  is  pursuing.  A  street 
in  Cairo,  with  its  donkey  ride,  its  camel 
ride,  its  confused,  .shouting,  noisy,  good- 
natured  crowd.  Then,  at  close  of  day,  the 
dinner  may  be  taken  in  old  Vienna,  at  a 
table  in  the  open  air,  with  band  playing 
and  lights  gleaming  from  the  ancient 
windows  which  surround  the  courtyard, 
until  a  man-at-arms  of  an  age  long  past, 
in  slashed  breeches  and  hose,  lantern  and 
spear  in  hand,  makes  the  rounds  and  re- 
calls the  fact  that  another  day  of  enjoy- 


THE    AGRICULTURAL    BUILDING. 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


525 


ment,  of  instruction,  of  unalloyed  inno- 
cent pleasure  has  come  to  a  close. 

That  knowledge  which  comes  by  hard- 
est work  and  hardest  stud}-  is  undoubtedly 
the  most  valuable,  but  the  university  of 
the  future  will  recognize  that  the  vast 
majority  of  mankind  is  incapable  of  men- 
tal acquisition  if  toil  and  labor  are  re- 
quired. The  kindergarten  idea  must  be 
the  foundation  of  all  schools  for  the  mill- 
ions :  to  hold  the  attention,  to  cause  the 
mind  to  work  unwittingly.  That  in- 
struction will  be  the  most  valuable  which 
makes  the  process  of  learning  easy,  which 
impresses  the  mind  by  object  lessons, 
holds  the  attention  and  fills  the  brain  with 
information,  or  starts,  without  the  knowl- 


edge of  the  recipient,  a  process  of 
thought  leading  to  a  more  perfect 
knowledge  of  life  and  its  affairs. 

What  was  the  other  thought  with 
which  this  subject  was  started,  this 
subject  so  absorbing,  so  interesting, 
so  full  of  possibilities,  so  endless,  that 
one  might  wander  on  forever  were  this 
not  merely  to  serve  as  an  introduction 
to  the  articles  of  those  who  will  treat 
the  World's  Fair  from  the  standpoint 
of  professional  knowledge  or  wider  ex- 
perience ?  Ah,  yes  !  The  third  thought 
was  this  :  What  a  pity  to  destroy  all 
this  beauty,  all  this  loveliness,  all  this 
costliness,  all  this  that  is  so  well 
adapted  for  man's  education  and  enjoy- 
ment. 

The  great  university  which  Chicago  is 
establishing  is  rearing  its  first  buildings 
just  beyond  the  Plaisance.  Why  should 
it  not  embody  this  Universit}-  of  Democ- 
racy as  part  of  a  magnificent  whole?  Is 
it  right  to  spend  twenty  millions  of  dol- 
lars upon  buildings  which  are  to  disap- 
pear as  in  a  night  ?  These  structures  are 
really  not  of  an  impermanent  character. 
They  are  of  strong  steel  arches,  and  even 
the  exterior  can  be  easily  repaired  and 
kept  in  shape.  In  China  I  have  had 
buildings  pointed  out  to  me  as  more  than 
a  hundred  years  old,  whose  outer  walls 
were  lathed  and  plastered.  The  things 


Oiiiilliir"***^ 


THE    ART    GALLERIES. 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


527 


THE    HORTICULTURAL    AND     ILLINOIS 
STATK    BUILDING. 

that  are  now  done  in  these  great  build- 
ings for  exhibition  purposes,  could  be  car- 
ried on  for  profit.  The  city  of  Chicago 
should  become  the  owner  of  these  build- 
ings as  it  already  owns  the  ground  upon 
which  they  are  erected.  Then  it  could 
lease  the  leather  building,  for  instance, 
to  a  great  manufacturer,  who  would  bind 
himself  to  make  his  plant  so  complete 
that  it  would  be  a  school  of  instruction 
at  all  times  to  the  maker  and  dealer. 

The  press  manufacturers  of  the  United 
States  could  well  afford  to  keep  under 
one  roof  every  model  of  their  skill. 
I  had  occasion,  less  than  a  year  ago,  to 
make  a  study  of  this  class  of  work,  and 
spent  many  wear}-  days  tramping  through 
printing  establishments  in  order  that  I 
might  be  able  to  comprehend  the  latest 
improvements  and  get  an  idea  of  the  best 
machinery  required  for  the  manufacture 
of  The  Cosmopolitan.  I  could  have  ac- 
complished this  purpose  at  the  Exposition 
with  one-tenth  of  the  labor  then  required, 

So  the  great  hall  of  cars  and  locomo- 
tives and  boats  could  become  a  place 


where  transportation  and  railway  officials 
could  be  sure  to  find  at  all  times  the  latest 
improvements  in  rolling-stock  or  boats. 
And  this  applies  with  like  force  to  the 
Electrical  building,  and  equally  to  almost 
every  other  class  of  exhibits.  The  Lib- 
eral Arts  building  could  be  turned  into  a 
great  bazar,  and  the  exhibits  be  main- 
tained in  proportions  so  vast  that  buyers 
would  flock  from  all  parts  of  the  countr}-. 
It  is  Chicago's  opportunity.  The  whole 
range  of  arts  within  easy  daily  reach  for 
demonstration  ;  an  object  lesson,  teach- 
ing the  dignity  of  labor ;  an  opportunity 
for  the  poorer  student  to  earn  the  needed 
portion  of  his  college  expenses  ;  greatest 
of  all,  a  central  point,  at  which  could  be 
exhibited  the  progress  of  invention,  the 
perfection  of  mechanical  skill,  the  most 
recent  advances  in  the  whole  range  of 
art  and  science.  It  will  be  a  pity  if  Chica- 
go, which  has  shown  itself  so  full  of  re- 
sources, shall  fail  to  seize  this  oppor- 
tunity. 


A   FIRST   IMPRESSION 


BY  WALTER  BESANT. 


ON  the  opening  of  a  certain  Congress 
— one  of  those  recently  held  in  con- 
nection with  the  World's  Fair  —  there 
was  an  evening  Reception.  At  this  Func- 
tion, after  the  manner  of  the  American 
and  English  folk,  speeches  were  deliv- 
ered. There  were  nine  of  these,  not 
counting  the  chairman.  Eight,  still  not 
counting  the  chairman,  though  they  be- 
gan on  other  subjects,  presently,  because 
it  was  impossible  to  avoid  it,  dropped  into 
the  subject  of  the  World's  Fair,  and  spoke 
of  it  in  such  terms  of  eulogy  as  the  Exhi- 
bition itself  compelled  and  their  command 
of  language  allowed.  When  it  came  to 
the  last  speaker,  a  modest  Englishman, 
and  therefore  no  orator,  he  too  would  fain 
have  spoken  of  the  World's  Fair,  after 
two  days'  experience,  but  all  that  he  had 
proposed  to  say  had  been  said  before  he 
arose  by  the  preceding  eight.  All  his  ad- 
jectives, in  fact,  had  been  already  used. 
Without  adjectives  how  can  a  man  ex- 
press admiration  or  amazement  or  their 
opposites  ?  And  his  —  those  that  he 
needed — had  all  been  used  already  by  the 


speakers  who  came  before  him.  There- 
fore he  had  to  content  himself  with  a  few 
phrases  of  commonplace  and  then  to  sit 
down,  conscious  of  the  comparison, 
greatly  to  his  own  disadvantage,  that 
would  naturally  be  drawn  between  his 
halting  hesitancy  and  thenational  fluency; 
between  American  and  English  speech- 
making.  Something  of  the  same  diffi- 
culty is  met  with  again,  when,  after  all  the 
special  correspondents  and  all  preceding 
visitors  have  been  at  work  upon  the  Fair 
forthree  months,  describing,  admiring  and 
exhausting  the  adjectives,  one  sits  down 
to  write  on  first  impressions.  What — 
whose — impressions,  first  or  last,  have  not 
been  already  offered  to  the  public  over  and 
over  and  over  again  ?  Yet,  after  all,  man  is 
individual.  Each  of  us  sees  with  his  own 
eyes,  and  no  two  pair  of  eyes  are  alike. 

To  begin  with,  such  a  paper  cannot  be 
critical.  The  exhibition,  the  whole 
world's  industries,  the  illustration  and 
record  up  to  the  day  of  the  whole  advance 
of  science  in  every  department,  the  col- 
lection of  all  the  arts  now  practised  in  the 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


529 


world  of  art :  such  a  colossal  enterprise 
can  only  be  surveyed,  subject  by  subject. 
The  World's  Fair,  in  short,  is  another 
edition,  the  latest  and  most  complete,  and 
by  far  the  best  illustrated,  of  an  Ecumeni- 
cal Encyclopaedia,  published  in  one  enor- 
mous volume.  In  this  collection  of  his- 
tory, geography,  science,  literature,  art 
and  everything  else,  one  can,  perhaps,  by 
careful  search,  discover  omissions,  and  an 
expert  might  amuse  himself,  and  gratify 
his  envy,  by  reporting,  or  pretending  to 
find,  incompleteness  of  treatment  in  his 
own  subjects.  But  no  ordinary  visitor, 
no  single  writer,  can  hope  to  produce  any 
paper,  appreciative,  critical  or  adequate,  of 
this  Encyclopaedia  as  a  whole.  The  wise 
man,  therefore,  will  not  attempt  such  a 
thing. 

Where  the  visitor  happens  to  be  a  liter- 
ary man,  one  who  is  in  the  habit  of  writ- 
ing and  speaking  of  things  offered  to  the 
public,  he  wanders  about  the  courts  and 
galleries  of  the  Exhibition,  oppressed,  far 
more  than  the  inarticulate  person,  by  the 
vastness  of  the  subject.  To  such  a  man 
the  great  truth  that  he  cannot  say  any- 
thing adequate,  and  that  he  need  not  try, 
falls  upon  his  spirit,  when  it  is  once 
grasped,  like  a  cool  shower  upon  a  hot 
afternoon.  It  lends  a  new  and  quite  pecu- 
liar charm  to  the  Show.  He  is  free  from 


the  obligation  of  thinking  what  he  should 
say  ;  he  need  not  try  to  reduce  impres- 
sions into  phrases,  as  the  school  -  boy 
turns  the  conditions  of  a  problem  into 
equations  ;  he  need  not  cast  about  for  a 
formula,  or  an  epigram,  or  anything  in- 
cisive, or  a  new  adjective  ;  he  need  not  be 
anxious  to  pronounce  a  judgment  worthy 
of  his  reputation,  if  he  has  any  ;  he  can 
become  an  ordinary  visitor,  silent,  open- 
mouthed — of  whom  nothing  is  expected  ; 
he  can  be  carried  away  by  the  mere  sem- 
blance and  outward  show  of  things,  by 
the  mere  profession  of  beauty  and  mag- 
nificence. Into  every  other  Art  gallery, 
every  other  kind  of  Show  he  carries  his 
measuring  rod  and  his  canons  of  art. 
These,  in  the  World's  Fair,  he  can  leave 
behind  him,  unless  he  means  to  conse- 
crate a  considerable  part  of  his  natural 
span  to  the  contents  of  the  buildings: 
he  will  be  content  to  enter  into  the  spirit 
of  the  designers,  and  to  suffer  himself  to 
fall  into  the  restful  spirit  of  one  who  re- 
ceives without  question  and  is  thankful. 

My  own  method,  with  a  new  poem,  a 
new  play,  a  new  novel,  a  new  essay,  is  to 
yield  myself  up  altogether  to  the  story  ; 
I  place  myself  in  the  author's  hands  ;  I 
try  to  find  out  what  he  wishes  to  tell  me, 
and  I  give  him  every  chance  to  hypnotize 
me  into  absolute  and  complete  subjection 


A    WHEEL-CHAIR    STATION    NEAR    THE    WOMAN'S    BUILDING. 


34 


530 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


to  his  will.  When  he  has  finished  ;  when 
the  story  is  over  ;  when  the  afterglow  it- 
self, which  should  last  a  long  time,  is  also 
over  :  then,  and  not  till  then,  let  me  bring 
to  bear  upon  the  subject  such  critical 
powers  as  may  be  mine.  And,  since  other 
things  press,  the  latter  process  is  fre- 
quently deferred  and  finally  forgotten. 
You  would  be  astonished — you  who  want 
to  criticise  first,  and  to  enjoy,  afterwards, 
anything  that  may  be  left — if  you  could 
find  out  how  much  mental  worry  is  saved 
by  this,  the  inverted  method,  and  how 
much  more  solid  satisfaction  one  may  get 
in  this  way  from  modern  art.  Yonder  por- 
trait, for  instance.  It  is  a  striking  face  ; 
there  must  be  an  interesting  story  written 
on  that  face,  if  one  could  read  it ;  it  is  in- 
structive to  stand  in  front  of  it  for  a  while, 
in  order  to  read  that  story.  Says  the 
critic :  ' '  The  painting  is  thin  ;  the  shadows 
are  not  deep  enough ;  the  drawing  is 
feeble  ;  the  face  is  flat ;  the  flesh  is  hard." 
Very  likely.  Very  likely,  indeed,  my 
friend.  I  do  not  greatlv  care  if  it  is  as 
you  say.  And,  to  be  su/e,  now  one  has 


finished  reading  the  story,  and  has  begun 
upon  the  critical  chapter,  one  perceives — 
but  let  us  go  on  to  the  next  picture.  Per- 
haps we  shall  find  another  episode  from 
the  Human  Comedy  written  there  ;  it  is  a 
pity  to  waste  time,  of  which  we  have  so 
little,  in  the  discovery  of  faults  which  we 
cannot  mend,  and  in  telling  the  world 
what  the  world  may,  if  it  cares,  find  out 
for  itself. 

For  these  reasons,  I  am  not  sorry  to 
have  no  adjectives  left.  They  have  all 
been  used  already  by  descriptive  and  crit- 
ical writers.  There  is  not  a  single  pict- 
uresque word  left  for  me  to  use,  not  a 
phrase  left  for  me  to  invent.  Yet  these 
are  to  be  my  "  first  impressions."  Let  us 
fall  back  on  the  old  adjectives. 

It  is  so  big,  to  begin  with.  The  guide- 
books spare  one  not  a  single  fact  to  illus- 
trate this  vastness  :  They  tell  us,  to  a  cart- 
load, how  many  tons  of  materials  have 
been  used,  how  man}'  acres  of  glass  give 
light  to  the  whole,  how  many  acres  of 
ground  are  covered.  Yet  figures  by  them- 
selves convey  no  impression  of  vastness. 


THE   ILLINOIS   BATTLESHIP. 


A    TERRACE    ON     THE    CALIFORNIA     BUILDING. 


The  human  mint!  cannot  grasp  the  mean- 
ing of  figures  when  they  get  beyond  a 
certain  number  ;  the  native  Australian, 
for  instance,  who  can  only  understand 
the  number  of  his  ten  fingers,  uses  for  all 
numbers  above  and  be}-ond  the  tenth, 
one  single  expression — he  says  "eighty- 
eight."  Why  eighty -eight  instead  of 
anything  else  ?  I  know  not.  But,  to  me, 
as  to  the  Australian  child  of  nature,  these 
figures  of  tons,  acres,  cart-loads,  are  exact- 
ly represented  by  theterm  ' '  eighty-eight. ' ' 
It  is  big — oh,  so  big  !  How  big  ?  < '  Eighty- 
eight."  What  on  earth  does  one  want 
more  ?  And  its  cost  has  been  an  amount 
hitherto  inconceivable.  How  much  ?  O, 
•'eighty-eight."  Is  it  possible?  These 
statistics  are  most  interesting.  We  will 
now  lay  the  guide-book  on  the  grass,  for 
any  one  to  pick  up,  and  go  on  without  it. 
Apart  from  their  curious  tendency  to 
become  "eighty-eight,"  figures,  when 
they  are  very  large— indeed,  and  things 
in  general,  when  they  are  very  large — 
have  a  way  of  saddening  him  who  con- 
templates them.  Vastness  of  all  kinds 
oppresses  the  soul  with  sadness.  For  in- 
stance, from  the  railway  between  Turin  and 
the  top  of  the  pass  over  the  Alps,  one  looks 


out  upon  the  grandest  mass  of  mountain 
— icy  glaciers,  ruthless  precipices,  snowy 
slopes,  relentless  aiguilles — that  one  can 
find  in  Europe.  One  is  overawed  with 
the  mere  vastness  of  this  mass.  I  once 
observed,  during  the  journey,  a  girl  who 
turned  from  the  contemplation  of  that 
mighty  mass  of  mountain  with  eyes  over- 
flowing. She  quickly  put  up  her  hand- 
kerchief and  blushed  for  shame  that  she 
should  be  thus  moved.  I  longed  to  say 
to  her,  but  could  not,  for  the  ordinary  rea- 
sons :  "My  child,  you  cry  because  the 
thing  is  so  great ;  for  the  same  reason, 
too,  I  could  cry.  How  this  effect  is  pro- 
duced ;  what  is  the  connection  between 
vastness  and  this  emotion  ;  why  the  lach- 
rymal duct  is  affected  and  the  pockethand- 
kerchief  required — I  know  not.  If  you 
please,  we  will  look  out  once  more  and 
weep  together."  Or  there  is — which  must 
be  the  leading  case  on  this  subject — the 
Weeping  Xerxes.  He  wept  at  the  sight 
of  his  immense  army  when  he  held  his 
big  March  Past.  He  said  he  wept  to 
think  that  in  a  hundred  years  they  would 
be  all  dead.  The  Persian  monarch  did 
not  know  much.  He  wept,  in  reality,  be- 
cause the  immensity  of  the  multitude 


532 


A   WORLD'S  FAIR. 


(the  total  number  or 
men  who  marched 
with  him  into 
Greece  was  ' '  eighty 
-eight")  quite  over- 
powered him.  That 
was  the  reason,  and 
nothing  else. 

The  Bigness  of 
the  World's  Fair 
first  strikes  and  be- 
wilders —  one  tries 
in  vain  to  under- 
stand it — and  then 
it  saddens.  I  ob- 
serve that  most  peo- 
ple, like  Xerxes,  set 
down  their  tears  to 
the  evanescent  na- 
ture of  the  show. 
"Three  months 
more,"  they  say, 
1 '  and  it  will  be  gone 
like  a  dream.  We 
weep.  The  pity  of 
it!"  Nay,  dear 
friends,  but  the 
Vastness  of  it ! 

Then  there  is  the 
Unexpectedness  of 
it !  Never  was  any  place  so  Unexpected. 
The  special  correspondents  and  the  illus- 
trated papers  have  done  their  best  to  bring 
the  place  home  to  us:  but,  you  see,  descrip- 
tion never  describes.  Read  any  descrip- 
tion you  please,  written  by  the  most  pict- 
uresque of  living  word  painters:  nothing 
that  he  writes  can  ever  convey  a  real  im- 
pression. Oh!  you  may  point  at  once,  on 
arrival,  to  the  Woman's  building,  or  to 
the  Manufactures  build- 
ing; you  recognize  them 
because  you  saw  the 
pictures  in  the  Illus- 
trated London  News. 
Quite  faithful  pictures 
they  were,  yet — yet — 
did  you  expect,  at  all, 
what  you  see  before 
you  ?  What  did  the  de- 
scriptive writer  and  the 
artist  between  them, 
teach  you  ?  The  form 
of  the  thing,  not  its  sur- 
roundings and  its  set- 
ting; not  its  atmos- 
phere; not  its  color  ;  not 


its  individuality. 
These  things  can- 
not be  put  into 
words  or  into  draw- 
ings,  and  they 
make  up  the  Unex- 
pectedness. 

Then  again,  the 
Poetry  of  the 
thing!  Did  the 
conception  spring 
from  one  brain,  like 
the  Iliad  ?  Were 
these  buildings  — 
every  one,  to  the 
unprofessional  eye, 
a  miracle  of  beauty 
— thus  arranged  so 
as  to  produce  this 
marvellous  effect  of 
beauty  by  one  mas- 
ter  brain,  or  by 
many  ?  For  never 
before,  in  any  age, 
in  any  country,  has 
there  been  so  won- 
derful an  arrange- 
ment of  lovely 
buildings  as  at  Chi- 
cago in  the  present 
year  of  grace  !  The  Hanging  Gardens  of 
Babylon — which  some  of  us  may  remem- 
ber as  belonging  to  a  previous  existence — 
were  fine.  There  were  some  very  fine 
things  in  Rome,  especially  when  Nero  was 
emperor  and  architect,  but  the  common 
people  saw  little  of  his  palace.  There 
was  rather  a  nice  little  show  in  London 
thirty  years  ago,  and  another,  not  with- 
out its  points,  in  Philadelphia,  seventeen 


A    TRADE    BUILDING    ON    THE    CANAL. 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


533 


years  ago.  But  no  where,  at  any  time, 
has  there  been  presented  to  the  world  any 
group  of  buildings  so  entirely  beautiful 
in  themselves  and  in  their  arrangement, 
as  this  group  at  Chicago,  which  they  call 
the  World's  Fair. 

No  one  who  has  not  seen  these  build- 
ings believes  those  who  unreservedly  pro- 
claim the  unexampled  beauty  of  the  group. 
Why?  First,  because,  as  maintained 
above,  description  cannot  describe;  and 
next,  because  out  of  America,  no  one  be- 
lieves that  there  are  any  beautiful  build- 
ings in  America;  and  thirdly,  because,  to 
the  English  mind,  Chicago  presents  itself 
as  the  most  prosaic  spot  on  the  whole  of 
this  earth. 

Those  English  travellers  who  have  writ- 
ten of  Chicago  dwell  upon  its  vast  wealth, 
its  ceaseless  activity,  its  enormous  blocks 
of  houses  and  offices,  upon  everything  that 
is  in  Chicago  except  that  sjde  of  it  which 
is  revealed  in  the  World's  Fair.  Yes,  it  is 
a  very  busy  place;  its  wealth  is  boundless, 
but  it  has  been  able  to  conceive  somehow, 
and  has  carried  into  execution  somehow, 


the  greatest  and  most  poetical  dream  that 
we  have  ever  seen.  Call  it  no  more  the 
White  City  on  the  Lake;  it  is  Dreamland. 
Apollo  and  the  Muses  with  the  tinkling 
of  their  lyres,  drown  the  bells  of  the  train 
and  the  trolley;  the  people  dream  epics; 
Art  and  Music  and  Poetry7  belong  to  Chi- 
cago; the  Hub  of  the  universe  is  trans- 
ferred from  Boston  to  Chicago;  this  place 
must  surely  become,  in  the  immediate 
future,  the  center  of  the  nobler  world — 
the  world  of  Art  and  Letters. 

As  for  Exhibitions — things  shown — I 
do  not  love  them.  Early  in  life  I  was 
prejudiced  against  them.  It  was  in  this 
way.  I  wish  — now — that  I  had  been  born 
in  the  seventies,  in  which  case  I  should 
at  this  moment bedelightfully  young.  Not 
having  been  consulted,  so  far  as  I  remem- 
ber, I  was  born  in  good  time  for  the  exhib- 
ition of  fifty-one.  I  was  taken  there  as  one 
of  a  small  company  of  boys.  The  visit  was 
designed  strictly  for  instruction.  Improve- 
ment was  "  rubbed  in  " — as  they  say  in 
ninet3r-three — during  the  whole  of  that 
long,  dull ,  dreary  day.  We  were  told  not  to 


ARCH    OVER    CANAL. 


534 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


LA     RABID  A. 


forget  this  and  to  make  a  note  of  that.  I 
remember — it  is  forty-two  years  since  that 
day — how  wonder  and  delight  quickly 
gave  way  to  satiety,  and  that,  in  its  turn 
to  utter  weariness,  and  that  to  silent 
apathy.  What  do  I  remember  out  of  it 
all?  The  Koh-i-noor — because  it  was  so 
small  a  thing  to  have  such  a  fuss  made 
about  it — the  statue  of  the  Greek  Slave, 
because  one  of  the  boys  afterwards  said 
that  had  it  not  been  for  an  assurance  that 
tea  and  cakes  would  begin  immediately, 
he  would  have  hit  that  Greek  Slave  over 
her  unprotected  head  in  order  to  begin  a 
row — and  a  group  of  stuffed  marmosets 
playing  a  game  of  quoits.  That  is  all  I 
remember  about  the  great  Exhibition  of 
1851. 

Exhibitions  thus  became,  to  my  youth- 
ful mind,  collections  brought  together  for 
the  instruction  and  improvement  of  youth 
under  the  pretence  of  amusement.  I  still 
regard  exhibitions  with  some  prejudice, 
and  I  still  look  around — I  never  fail  to 
find  them — for  the  family  party  trailing 
round  the  galleries;  for  the  weariness  of 
the  children's  limbs,  the  dragging  of  their 
feet,  the  set  mouth  and  the  glazing  eye. 
What  I  have  desired  all  1113-  life  is  an  Ex- 
hibition without  exhibits,  and  at  Chicago 


that  great  and  long-felt  want  is  provided. 
There  are,  I  believe,  exhibits  provided  in 
the  buildings,  if  you  choose  to  go  and  look 
at  them.  But  }-ou  need  not.  For  the  un- 
commercial drummer,  the  bagman  with- 
out his  bags,  for  one  who  is  not  in  the 
least  interested  in  machiner}',  processes, 
and  the  way  in  which  things  are  made, 
there  need  be  no  exhibits  at  all  and  one 
can  meditate  undisturbed  by  the  intrusion 
of  exhibits,  as  long  as  he  pleases,  about 
and  around  and  among  the  buildings,  and 
the  waters  and  the  walks  of  the  Fairy 
palace  beside  the  lake. 

Next,  there  are  the  people  at  the  Fair. 
It  is  part  of  my  profession  to  watch  peo- 
ple. As  they  pass  along  the  street,  or  as 
the}-  sit  in  the  tram  car,  or  in  the  railway 
train,  it  is  a  never  ending  joy  to  watch 
them.  When  they  are  silent  one  can  read 
their  faces,  build  tip  stories  out  of  the  sad- 
ness, the  resignation,  the  impatience,  or 
the  happiness  which  they  cannot  choose 
but  reveal  all  unconsciously.  When  they 
talk,  which  they  do  whenever  they  have 
companions,  they  reveal  themselves  still 
more.  Then  one  listens  to  the  most  curi- 
ous details  and  the  most  astonish  ing  anec- 
dotes. Thus  one  becomes  aware  that  in 
our  crowded  cities  there  are  indeed  many 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


535 


536 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


AN    ENTRANCE   TO   THE   FISHERIES   BUILDING. 

other  ways  of  life  than  we  know.     There- 
fore, it  goes  without  saying,  that  next  to 


the  buildings,  the  most  interesting  ex- 
hibit in  the  World's  Fair  is  that  of  the 
people  who  crowd  it. 

At  present,  they  are  all  Americans. 
Once  or  twice,  here  and  there,  one  per- 
ceives an  Englishman;  one  catches  the 
English  accent,  thicker  of  speech,  quicker 
of  speech,  than  the  American.  Once  or 
twice  one  hears,  not  without  a  sense  of 
incongruity,  that  intonation  of  East  Essex 
which  has  conquered  London,  and  pro- 
duced the  patois  known  as  Cockney. 
Here  and  there  are  Germans,  but  they  are 
American  Germans.  The  great  mass  of 
people  are  Americans,  and  as  might  be 
expected,  people  of  what  in  Europe  they 
call  the  lower  class.  Perhaps  this  invid- 
ious distinction  cannot  be  admitted  in  a 
land  of  equality.  Let  us  say  then,  that 
the  mass  of  the  people  are,  apparently,  of 
that  very  large  class  who  do  not  possess 
thehighestculture,  thewidest  knowledge, 
the  finest  education  or  the  largest  fortunes 
— in  a  word,  the  Average  People.  It  is  for 
them  that  this  Fair  has  been  designed; 
every  national  work  must  be  designed  for 
the  Average  People;  not  for  the  few  at  the 
top  or  for  the  helpless  lot  in  the  gutter, 


WEST    FACADE   OF    THE    LIBERAL    ARTS    BUILDING. 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


537 


COURT    OF    LA    RABIDA. 


but  for  the  Average.  Therefore,  I  walked 
with  the  crowd,  and  looked  on  with  their 
eyes,  and  tried  to  learn  what  they  were 
learning. 

Even  a  small  crowd  is  difficult  to  follow 
collectively;  one  presently  has  to  make  a 
selection.  A  pair  is  best,  a  married  pair, 
not  too  young,  of  the  average  age,  ap- 
pearance, dress  and  manners.  Such  a 
pair  I  found  at  the  Fair,  both  of  them,  to 
look  at,  from  thirty-five  to  forty  years  of 
age.  The>'  had  a  rustic  look,  yet  not  of 
the  rusticity  which  we  find  in  Great  Britain. 
They  came  from  the  country  —  that  was 
certain — but  one  can  hardly  explain  \vhy  it 
was  certain.  This  pair,  at  the  time  when  I 
lit  upon  them,  had  been  walking  about  for 
a  long  time;  the  woman  was  almost  over- 
come with  weariness;  the  man  had  still 
some  strength  and  resolution  left,  but  the 
lines  in  his  face  were  hardening;  he  had 
seen  already  more  than  his  mind  could 
absorb :  the  rest  of  the  da}*,  though  this  he 
knew  not,  would  be  unprofitable.  "  See 
here,"  he  said,  "I  must  see  this" — he 
stood  before  I  know  not  what  exhibit  in 


I  know  not  what  gallery — "  If  you  must," 
his  wife  murmured  patiently.  Then  she 
found  a  bench  and  sat  down  waiting.  A 
sudden  change  fell  upon  her  face;  the  deep 
lines  vanished;  the  glazed  eye  brightened, 
but  with  a  far-off  gaze;  she  lifted  her 
drooping  head  and  her  lips  parted.  For, 
you  see,  though  she  was  sitting  all  in  the 
midst  of  marvels;  though  she  was  in  a 
treasure  hou.se,  she  had  gone  clean  away 
out  of  it,  careless  of  all ;  in  the  flesh  she 
was  in  it,  but  in  the  spirit  she  was  back 
again  in  her  own  home,  and  she  was  put- 
ting out  the  cups  and  saucers,  for  it  was 
near  time  for  supper. 

No  traveller,  sa\rs  the  philosopher,  can 
take  away  from  a  place  more  than  he 
brought  thither.  This  is  a  hard  saying. 
What,  then,  will  this  Average  couple  who 
are  so  tired  out  by  the  many  things  they 
have  seen,  carry  away  from  the  Fair  ?  As- 
suredly, if  they  were  ignorant  of  machin- 
ery, of  science,  of  arts,  of  the  thousand 
inventions,  ingenuities  and  cunning  de- 
vices of  men  before  the}-  entered  the  place, 
they  will  go  out  of  it  in  equal  ignorance. 


538 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR, 


To  see  the  whirring  of  wheels  does  not 
teach  the  application  of  steam,  nor  is  one 
taught  the  conquest  of  electricity  by 
listening  to  the  tubes  of  a  phonograph. 
A  machine  will  remain,  to  the  Average 
Pair,  a  contrivance  for  saving  labor  and 
for  doing  a  thing  quickly.  In  the  same 
way  one  does  not  learn  Art  by  walking 
through  a  picture  gallery.  A  picture,  to 
the  Average  Pair,  will  remain  a  painted 
story  and  generally  a  story  not  worth 


the  trouble  of  telling.  But  they  will  see 
something  that  they  know  ;  something 
done  infinitely  better  than  they  ever  saw 
it  before.  Agricultural  implements  and 
scientific  cultivation  of  the  soil,  women's 
work — needlework  and  all  kinds  of  work 
— food  stuffs,  carriages,  harness,  house- 
hold furniture— all  the  things  that  belong 
to  the  daily  life,  and  seeing  these  things 
they  will  compare,  learn,  reflect  and  go 
home  all  the  wiser. 


Again  ;  they  have  had  a  vision.  Let 
us  remember  that  many  of  these  people  be- 
long to  that  vast  country  west  and  south 
and  northwest  of  Chicago  which  is  newly 
settled,  newly  populated,  and  without 
noble  or  venerable  buildings.  Americans 
of  the  east  are  brought  up  in,  or  near,  cities 
which  are  full  of  great  buildings,  some 
of  which  are  beautiful  and  even  venerable. 
Our  own  people  live  among  the  most 
beautiful  village  churches  and  the  most 
lovely  old  houses.  Our  little 
island  is  crammed  with  an- 
cient memories  and  places 
made  sacred,  even  to  the  rus- 
tics, by  mere  memories.  This 
Average  western  couple  have 
no  such  surroundings,  and 
no  such  memories.  Here  they 
see,  for  the  first  time,  such 
buildings  as  they  have  never 
before  imagined.  These  lines 
of  columns ;  these  many 
statues  standing  against  the 
deep,  blue  sky;  these  domes; 
these  carvings  and  towers 
and  marvels  reflected  in  the 
waters  of  the  Lagoon — will 
this  Pair  ever  forget  them? 
When  they  have  seen  at  night 
the  innumerable  lines  of 
white  electric  light ;  the 
domes  outlined  with  the  yel- 
low light ;  the  electric  fount- 
ain ;  the  illuminations  ;  the 
gleaming  waters — will  this 
weary  Pair  from  an  unlovely 
Average  village — can  they — 
ever  forget  the  scene?  Never. 
It  will  remain  in  their  minds 
as  the  Vision  of  St.  John — an 
actual  sight  of  the  New  Jeru- 
salem ;  all  the  splendors  that 
the  apostle  describes  they 
will  henceforth  understand. 
A  new  sense  has  been  awak- 
ened in  them.  Possessed  by  this  great 
gift,  they  will  go  home  again. 

Is  this  all  ?  I  think  not.  In  the 
achievements  of  science,  machinery,  elec- 
tricity; in  the  thousand  applications 
of  Art ;  in  everything  that  has  been 
brought  before  them  ;  they  will  learn  re- 
spect for  things  if  not  for  those  who  make 
them — things  which  they  cannot  make 
for  themselves.  Respect  is  a  lesson  very 
hard  to  teach  to  people  who  are  ignorant 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


539 


of  what  things  mean.  How  can  they  re- 
spect a  great  painter  when  they  do  not 
know  a  great  painting  ?  Therefore,  this 
Average  Pair  will  not  respect  this  or  that 
great  man,  because  the}-  cannot  compare, 
but  they  will  respect  the  great  thing  done. 

And  they  will  see  what  is  done  by 
other  countries,  which  is  a  very  whole- 
some lesson  for  the  Average  Man,  who  is 
apt  to  think  all  other  countries,  in  every- 
thing, far  below  his  own.  This  Average 
Man  will  in  future  acknowledge  that  some 
good  things  may  be  done  even  in  England 
and  France  and  Gentian}'. 

And  if  they  are  so  fortunate  as  to  be 
guided  in  the  right  direction  the  Average 
Pair  will  be  led  to  look  a  little  into  the  his- 
tory of  humanity.  They  will,  if  they  are  so 
guided,  learn  to  take  a  wider  view  of  this 
world,  to  see  in  the  advance  of  man  the 
development  of  some  purpose  hitherto  ob- 
scurely understood.  There  arethesavages 
in  their  place,  the  archaeological  things  in 
their  place ;  everything  that  tells  of  man's 
slow  and  gradual  advance,  step  by  step. 
Do  you  think  it  is  a  bad  thing  for  the  Av- 


erage Pair  so  to  be  lifted  out  of  their  in- 
sulation and  made  to  feel  themselves,  how- 
ever imperfectly,  part  and  parcel  of  the 
chain  whose  beginning  can  never  be 
traced,  whose  end  will  never  arrive  ?  But 
I  fear  they  will  not  get  that  guidance. 
To  make  an  end  of  First  Impressions  : 
It  is  a  very  good  thing  for  all  of  us,  espe- 
cially for  those  who  live  in  cities  andeasily 
fall  into  the  belief  that  "  all  the  world  is 
old,  and  all  the  leaves  are  brown,  and  all 
the  tales  are  told,  and  all  the  wheels  run 
down,'1  that  the  world  is,  on  the  other 
hand,  still  quite  young  and  vigorous  ; 
that  there  are  places  where  the  abounding 
vitality  of  youth  is  always  in  evidence  ; 
that  there  is  no  past  but  that  of  child- 
hood, and  the  present  is  nothing  but  an 
eager  race,  a  contest  of  athletes,  and  the 
future  is — they  know  not  what,  save  that 
they  live  in  sure  and  certain  hope  and  faith 
that  it  is  rich  and  splendid  and  that  there 
will  be  glorious  battle  for  the  foremost 
prize.  Such  a  place  is  the  Capital  of  the 
West ;  of  such  youth  and  strength  are 
the  actual  working  burgesses  of  that  city. 


UNDER    THK    LIBERAL    ARTS    BUILDING. 


THE    FOREIGN    BUILDINGS. 


BY  PRICE  COLLIER. 


IN  addition  to  the  exhibits  in  the  differ- 
ent departments  of  the  Fair,  many 
foreign  nations  haveerected  separate  build- 
ings, in  which  they  have  their  headquar- 
ters and,  in  most  instances,  also  objects 
of  national  interest.  They  are  very  hap- 
pily situated  along  the  lake  front,  ex- 
tending back  as  far  as  the  North  pond. 
If  one  were  to  choose  the  most  costly 
building,  or  the  most  quaint,  or  the  most 
attractive,  or  the  most  bizarre,  for  a  first 
description,  it  \vere  easy  to  make  a  selec- 
tion. France,  however,  in  her  own  words, 
"  En  acceptant,  la  premiere  entre  toutes 
les  nations  etrangeres,  de  participer  a  1' ex- 
position universelle  a  Chicago,"  deserves, 
perhaps,  first  mention.  The  main  build- 
ing, with  two  pavilions  connected  by  a 
semi-circular  colonnade,  and  the  inclosure 
thus  formed  is  a  lovely  garden,  brought 
to  its  present  beauty  by  the  skill  of  the 


assistant  municipal  landscape  gardener 
from  Paris.  The  pavilion  at  the  north 
end  contains  an  exhibit  from  the  munic- 
ipality of  Paris.  Here  one  may  see  mod- 
els of  everything  used  in  the  fire  depart- 
ment, police  and  street-cleaning  depart- 
ments, the  public  and  the  technical  schools 
— the  exhibits,  in  fact,  being  an  object 
lesson  in  the  study  of  the  care  of  Paris. 
In  the  south  pavilion  is  a  large  room 
which  is  an  exact  copy  of  the  salon  d'Her- 
cule  at  Versailles,  where  Louis  xvi.  re- 
ceived our  ambassador,  Benjamin  Frank- 
lin. Tapestries  and  furniture  of  exqui- 
site texture  and  form,  and  rare  paintings, 
and  many  relics  of  the  patriot  Lafayette, 
are  here.  Indeed,  this  room  is  an  expres- 
sion of  sentiment,  and  a  very  fitl}T  chosen 
one.  The  only  bit  of  bad  color  in  the  room 
is,  alas  !  a  chair  -  cushion  embroidered 
for  Lafayette  by  Martha  Washington. 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


541 


Next  door  is  the  Ceylon  pavilion.  This 
is  built  throughout  of  native  woods  and 
was  put  up  in  Ceylon,  brought  here  in 
pieces,  and  put  together  again  by  native 
workmen.  The  architecture  is  represent- 
ative of  the  ancient  temples  in  Kandy 
and  the  main  object  of  its  being  here  is  to 
represent  the  enormous  tea  industry  of 
the  island,  which  exported  twenty  million 
pounds  of  tea  in  1892  alone.  A  beautiful 
pillar  of  carved  ebony  and  satinwood,  in 
the  middle  of  the  building,  contains  a 
stairway  leading  to  a  daintily-furnished 
tea-room  above.  Below  are  exhibits  of 
ebony  and  other  woods,  basket  work,  tea, 
coffee,  minerals,  and  samples  of  practically 
all  the  products  of  the  island.  The  delicacy 
and  intricacy  of  the  hand-carving  through- 
out the  building  almost  makes  the  eyes 
impatient,  and  one  sees  how  time  and  la- 
bor are  of  no  account  there,  and  how, 
verily,  fifty  years  of  Europe  are  better 
than  a  cycle  of  Cathay. 

The  Germans  may  be  proud  of  the  build- 
ing next  in  line,  probably  the  largest  and 
most  costly  of  all.  The  massive  walls  are 
richly  decorated  and  the  roof  is  covered 
with  glistening  glazed  tiles,  and  the  style 
is  technically  that  of  the  early  German  re- 
naissance. The  chief  exhibits  inside  this 


German  house  are  the  publishers'  collec- 
tive exhibit,  and  examples  of  church  dec- 
orative art,  the  latter  arranged  becomingly 
in  a  chapel  adapted  to  the  purpose. 

The  construction  of  this  building  alone 
cost  the  German  government  something 
over  a  quarter  of  a  million  of  dollars,  and 
there  is  no  evidence  here  in  this  splendid 
example  of  middle-age  Teutonic  architec- 
ture of  the  internecine  monetary  discus- 
sions now  rife  in  the  Vaterland. 

South  of  this  and  also  facing  on  the 
lake  front,  stands  the  rather  somber-look- 
ing building  of  Spain.  It  is  an  exact  re- 
production of  a  three- fourth's  section  of 
the  silk  exchange  at  Valencia.  The  sec- 
tion here  represented  shows  the  column- 
hall  and  tower,  wherein  bankrupt  mer- 
chants were  confined.  Inside  the  build- 
ing are  the  offices  of  the  Spanish  com- 
mission and  many  interesting  relics  of 
Columbus,  including  some  of  his  letters, 
and  a  sword  which  belonged  to  his  vi- 
vacious and  lovely  patroness,  Isabella. 

At  the  extreme  south  end  of  this  line  of 
foreign  buildings,  and  still  facing  on  the 
lake  front,  are  the  Canadian  and  English 
buildings.  The  Canadian  building  is  a 
plain,  unornamented  structure,  designed 
by  the  Department  of  Public  Works  in 


542 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


NEW    SOUTH    WALES. 

Ottawa.  The  main  building  is  two  stories 
high  with  three  entrances  and  around  the 
whole  of  the  house  runs  a  broad  veranda. 
In  the  building  the  interior  walls,  floors 
and  ceilings  are  of  highly  polished  native 
woods. 

Strange  to  say,  the  English  building, 
officially  named  the  Victoria  house,  has 
for  near  neighbors  the  two  detestations 
of  the  provincial  Britisher,  viz.  :  a  huge 
soda-water  pavilion  and  a  colossal  clam- 
bake pavilion.  Thehouse  itself  is  said  to 


be,  at  any  rate  by 
the  ' ' bobby ' '  at  the 
entrance,  ' '  haf  the 
time  of  Enery 
Heighth."  It  is  a 
half-timber  build- 
ing, with  facings  of 
red  brick  and  oval 
windows.  Inside 
the  building  are  the 
offices  of  the  British 
commission,  a  large 
reception-room  and 
library,  a  post-office 
exhibit  showing  the 
development  of  the 
postal  system  in 
Great  Britain,  and 
some  few  pieces  of 
fine  pottery.  The 
crowd  who  pass 
through  the  build- 
ing, between  cords, 
become  animated 
only  when  they  see 

the  large  oil  painting  of  the  "Queen's 
Garden  Party,"  which  introduces  them  to 
royalties  in  profusion — and  in  frock-coats 
— and  to  such  celebrities  as  Henry  Irv- 
ing, Ellen  Terry,  Gladstone  and  others,  at 
whom  they  point  rejoicingly  with  fing- 
ers and  umbrellas,  in  the  vain  desire  to 
feel  at  home  and  welcome,  amid  such  a 
labyrinth  of  red-tape. 

Leaving  the  lake  front  now,  the  other 
foreign  buildings  are  grouped  together  be- 
hind the  line  of  houses  just  described. 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


543 


The  most  imposing  are  those  of  Brazil, 
Sweden,  the  East  India  building,  and  that 
of  Venezuela.  If  one  will  consent  to  take 
his  luncheon  at  the  Polish  cafe  —  and 
probably  no  one  having  reached  the  age 
of  gastronomic  consent  would  willingly 
do  so  without  some  special  inducement — 
he  may  sit  upon  the  upper  balcony  of  that 
hostelry  and  get  a  capital  panoramic  view 
of  the  foreign  buildings.  At  the  extreme 
right  end  of  the  line  he  can  see  England's 
house,  and  near  it  the  Australia  house  of 
her  colony  New  South  Wales  ;  the  Hayti 
government  building,  with  its  broad  piaz- 
zas and  central  dome ;  the  back  of  the 
Spanish  building  ;  the  towers  and  turrets 
of  the  German  building  ;  and  just  under 
his  right  elbow  is  the  East  India  build- 
ing, of  yellow  staff,  with  decorations  in 
the  heavy,  luscious  colors  of  the  East, 
with  j^ards  and  yards  of  delicate  tracery, 
and  inside  all  idols,  ivory,  tapestry  and 
tea.  Just  in  front  of  him  he  may  look 


right  through  the  handsome  entrance  into 
the  Swedish  building,  and  farther  to  the 
left  there  are  the  buildings  of  Brazil,  Tur- 
key, Venezuela,  and,  way  to  the  north 
and  west  and  just  out  of  sight,  on  an 
island,  the  dainty  house  of  Japan,  where 
dolls  might  take  tea  together,  but  into 
which  no  man  belonging  to  the  civiliza- 
tion of  double- soled  boots  would  think  of 
going.  The  lacquer  work  and  the  cun- 
ningly-devised joinery  work  of  the  Japan 
building  must  be  seen  to  be  appreciated. 
One  is  somewhat  surprised  to  find 
that  bankrupt  Turkey  contrives  to  be 
so  charmingly  en  evidence,  surrounded  as 
she  is  by  the  pavilions  of  her  creditors. 
The  building  is  entirely  of  native  woods, 
carved  by  hand,  and  represents  thousands 
of  hours  of  painful  chiselling.  The  ur- 
bane and  beturbaned  Turk,  who,  in  a 
half  hour's  chat,  claimed  that  his  re- 
ligion was  quite  as  good,  and  showed  con- 
clusively, by  material  proofs,  that  his 


ENGLAND. 


544 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


cigarettes  and  coffee  were  much  better 
than  ours,  told  us  that  here  were  concen- 
trated all  of  Turkey's  exhibit.  There  is 
a  wild  profusion  of  inlaid  work,  minerals, 
rugs,  ores,  dried  fruits,  mineral  waters, 
wines,  tobacco  and  silks  and  brilliant- 
colored  stuffs  galore.  The  building  rep- 
resents a  Turkish  kiosk,  or  summer  cha- 
teau, and  is  almost  the  most  remarkable 
of  the  smaller  foreign  buildings. 

Directly  north  of  this  Turkish  kiosk 
is  the  splendid,  great,  white  building 
of  Brazil.  The  plan  is  in  the  form  of  a 
Greek  cross,  and  a  central  dome  rises  to 
a  height  of  nearly  150  feet.  There  are  al- 
legorical figures,  representing  the  repub- 
lic of  Brazil,  in  bas-reliefs  on  the  fafades. 

Among  many  other  remarkable  achieve- 
ments of  the  guide-book,  with  which  the 
visitors  are  all  armed,  the  most  daring  is 
the  construction  of  the  Venezuela  build- 
ing ' '  out  of  white  marble,  in  the  Greco- 
Roman  style  of  architecture. ' '  The  build- 
ing is  of  staff,  pure  and  simple — staff  be- 
ing, by  the  way,  a  composition  of  plaster, 
cement  and  hemp — but  so  cunningly  col- 
ored as  to  resemble  marble.  The  exhibit 
includes  paintings  by  Cristoval  Rojas, 
Herrera,  Torro,  and  one  or  two  other  na- 


NORWAY. 


tive  painters,  and  many  samples  of  min- 
erals, marbles,  woods,  coffee,  cocoa,  drugs, 
fibers,  and  other  products;  and  here  again, 
as  in  thecase  of  Turkey,  the  wholeof  theex- 
hibit  from  Venezu- 
ela is  under  the  roof 
of  this  building. 

The  Swedish 
building,  which 
suffers  no  indiges- 
tion, apparently, 
from  its  nearness  to 
the  Polish  cafe,  has 
a  floor  area  of  more 
than  10,000  feet  and 
was  manufactured 
in  Sweden,  tempo- 
rarily put  together 
there,  taken  to 
pieces  and  brought 
here.  It  is  built  of 
wood  and  different 
kinds  of  brick  from 
the  different  brick- 
kilns of  Sweden, 
and  imposes,  rather 
than  is  imposing,  by 
virtue  of  its  amor- 
phous outlines.  Un- 
derneath its  roof  is 
a  collection  of 
sporting  goods, 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


545 


furniture,  embroideries,  ores,  steel,  mod- 
els wearing  the  native  costume,  and  a 
handsome  painting  of  the  capitol  of 
Sweden.  The  Swedish  peasant  girl  pluck- 
ing the  petals  of  a  daisy,  to  see  "  s'il 
m'aime,  un  pen,  beaucoup,  passionement 
ou  pas  du  tout,"  who  stands  in  a  niche  in 
the  wall,  gives  a  friendly  air  of  kinship 
with  all  the  world  and  makes  one  feel  at 
home.  Sweden  is  represented  in  this 
building  also  by  a  well-arranged  exhibit 
of  gymnastic  apparatus,  and  of  the  world 
wide  known  Sloyd-school  methods. 

The  building  of  Norway,  not  far  away, 
is  a  small,  oddly-built  affair,  all  gables 
and  corners,  with  queer-looking  orna- 
ments sticking  out  from  the  gable-ends, 
which  look  like  the  prows  of  vessels.  It 
is  of  Norway  pine  throughout,  and  stands 
in  grave  contrast  to  its  more  pretentious 
neighbor  Sweden. 

Russia  has  no 
building,  nor  are 
Holland,  Austria, 
Italy  and  China  rep- 
resented. 

Costa  Rica,  at  the 


east  end  of  the  North  pond,  has  a  plain, 
modest-looking  structure  of  the  Doric 
type,  with  wide  porticos  and  a  profusion  of 
pillars,  but,  like  the  modest  woman  who 
goes  inconspicuously  clad  in  the  street  and 
only  blazes  forth,  all  white  and  jewels,  in 
her  own  drawing-room,  so  Costa  Rica,  in 
an  unsurpassed  exhibit  of  tropical  birds  and 
flowers  indoors,  fairly  flames  with  color. 
Each  of  these  buildings  has  its  charm, 
and  one  may  spend  more  than  one  day  in 
rambling  about  this  pleasant  part  of  the 
Fair  grounds,  enlarging  one's  horizon  at 
almost  every  step.  There  is  something 
more  than  architecture,  there  is  a  moral 
and  ethnical  significance  in  the  friendly 
propinquity  of  these  foreign  buildings. 
They  come  to  know  one  another  better 
and  we  get  to  know  them,  and  "  com- 
prendre  c'est  pardonner."  Much  national 
as  well  as  personal  enmity  is  based  on 
provinciality  and  misunderstanding.  We 
discover  that  many  of  our  virtues  are 
equalled  and  surpassed  by  countries  that 
we  know  little  of,  and  this  discovery 
makes  us  more  modest  and  at  the  same 
time  serves  as  an  incentive  to  progress. 


GERMANY. 


546 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


NOTES  ON  INDUSTRIAL  ART  IN  THE  MANUFACTURES   BUILDING. 


BY  GEORGE  FREDERICK  KUNZ. 


THE  building  devoted  to  the  Depart- 
ments of  Manufactures  and  Liberal 
Arts,  at  the  Columbian  exposition,  has  an 
unheard-of  amplitude  of  dimensions,  its 
central  hall  being  1276  feet  long,  387  feet 
wide,  and  210  feet  in  height  above  the 
floor.  While  it  was  still  empty,  the  most 
forcible  reminder  of  its  magnificent  pro- 
portions was  an  apparent  absence  of  per- 
spective—  an  impossibility  of  realizing 
the  space  travelled  over  by  the  ej-e  when 
looking  from  the  one  end  to  the  other.  It 
was  plain  to  the  most  casual  observation 
that  an  exhibition  booth  of  ordinary  di- 
mensions would  be  reduced  to  insignifi- 
cance under  so  spacious  a  canopy.  With 
the  notable  exception  of  Great  Britain, 
the  European  nations  to  which  space  was 
allotted  in  the  central  hall,  have  fixed  the 
height  of  their  pavilions  with  special  ref- 
erence to  the  altitude  of  the* roof  and  the 
vast  expanse  of  the  floor.  Karl  Hoffacher, 
the  architect  of  the  German  court,  at- 
tacked the  problem  with  a  certain  forceful 
deliberateness  which  has  produced  a  very 


striking  result.  The  structure  is  of  the 
style  of  the  German  renaissance,  and  its 
front  on  the  central  circle  is  flanked  by 
two  square  towers,  having  supporting 
Ionic  pillars,  and  a  decorated  plinth  up- 
holding golden  eagles.  The  ascending 
series  of  towers,  domes  and  arches  have  a 
grandiose  effect,  and  from  the  fountains 
at  the  base  to  Reinhold  Begas  superb 
"Germania"  group  in  hammered  copper, 
which  surmounts  the  highest  pedestal, 
every  detail  bears  the  stamp  of  artistic 
breadth  and  decision. 

The  great  wrought-iron  gates,  by  Arm- 
briister,  of  Frankfort-on-the-Main,  which 
mark  the  main  entrance  to  the  German 
pavilion,  are  the  finest  and  most  impres- 
sive specimens  of  this  kind  of  work  of 
which  our  country  has  seen. 

France  has  reared  a  less  lofty  pavilion 
than  Germany,  but  all  through  it,  has 
preserved  a  quiet,  tasteful  dignity  which 
commands  admiration.  The  French  in- 
stallation in  this  department  is  an  object 
lesson  in  the  artistic  method  of  industrial 


Nothing  can  give  a  better  idea  of  the  vastness  of  the  Liberal  Arts  building  than  the  photograph  which 


ights  depend  fifty 
people  on  the  floor  appear  as  mere  spots. 


548 


A   WORLD'S  FAIR. 


presentation,  as  well  as  in  the  true 
theory  of  exposition  organization. 
None  but   representative  firms   in 
their  special  lines  were  admitted  as 
exhibitors,    and    the  selection  was 
made  by  committees  of  the  various 
arts  and  industries  whose  products 
are  shown  here.     The  government 
architects  originated    the    general 
plan  of  the  court,   prescribed  the 
details   of  its  external  decoration, 
designed  the  central  hall,  devoted 
to  the  products  of  the  national  fac- 
tories of  Gobelins,  Sevres   and   Bauvais, 
and  the  room  in  which  the  bronzes  are 
displayed.     For  the   rest,   the  committee 
of  each  class  of  manufactures — furniture, 
textiles,  ceramics,  etc. — had  its  own  arch- 
itect and  decorator,  and  the  installation, 
from   the  form  of  the  show-cases  to  the 
ornamentation  of  the  panels,  has  a  care- 
fully studied   congruity,   heightened,    if 
possible,  by  a  strict  attention  on  the  part 
of  the  exhibitor  to  the  artistic  grouping 
of  his  wares. 


A    FRIEZE. 


ARCH    IN   AUSTRIAN   SECTION. 


Among  the 
other  nation- 
al pavilions 
the  most 
characteristic 
are  those  of 
Russia,  Den- 
mark, Nor- 
way and  Ja- 
pan. The 
Russian, 
which  is  the 
work  of  Pe- 
trovo  Ropet- 
te,  shows  an 
effect  iv  e 
and  massive 
combination 
ofByzantine 
style  with 
Slavic  meth- 
od and  de- 
tail,  a  nd 

will,   we  hope,  become   the  property   of 
some    American  museum. 

German}',  France  and  Great  Britain 
have  each  100,000  square  feet  of  exposi- 
tion space,  and  they  occupy  three  great 
squares,  grouped  around  the  central  circle 
of  the  building,  in  the  middle  of  which  is 
the  clock-tower  erected  by  the  Construc- 
tion department  of  the  exposition.  On 
the  fourth  square  are  the  exhibits  of  the 
United  States,  but  these  occupy  the  whole 
northeastern  .section  of  the  building,  cov- 
ering in  all  some  300,000  square  feet.  Xo 
attempt  was  made  to  treat  this  as  a  whole 
— to  arrange  it  in  a  series  of  trade  courts 
— as  was  urged  by  the  intelligent  and  far- 
seeing  chief  of  the  department,  Mr.  James 
Allison.  The  rule  was  that  each  exhibitor 
should  be  left  to  provide  for  his  own 
booth,  the  design  of  which  should  be  ap- 
proved by  the  Construction  department. 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


549 


A    RECEPTION-ROOM — FRENCH    SECTION. 


and  as  much  harmony  of  plan  and  group- 
ing secured  as  the  extremely  varied  char- 
acter of  the  exhibits  would  permit.  But 
the  fact  forced  itself  on  the  attention  of 
those  in  authority  that,  facing  the  pavilion 
of  Germany  on  one  side  and  that  of  France 
on  the  other,  the  scattered  booths  of  Amer- 
ican exhibitors  would  look  shabby  by  con- 
trast. A  similar  conclusion  impressed  it- 
self, after  the  opening  of  the  Fair,  on  the 
minds  of  the  exhibitors  of  the  united 
textile  industries,  and  Mr.  Henr}-  Ives 
Cobb  was  summoned  to  do  for  their  som- 
ber and  unadorned  assemblage  of  show- 
cases what  should  have  been  done  at  the 
beginning. 

Three  New  York  firms  accepted  the  task 
of  making  for  the  United  States  section  a 
front  pavilion  that  would  "maintain  the 
dignity  and  reputation  of  the  country. 
The  result  is  a  very  successful  piece  of 
work,  which  may  fairly  challenge  com- 
parison with  that  of  any  of  the  foreign 
constructors.  It  is  a  product  of  the  archi- 
tectural skill  of  Mr.  John  Du  Fais,  of 
New  York  city.  The  design  is  conceived 
in  a  more  severe  and  classical  stvle  than 


would  be  deemed  fitting  for  an  ephemeral 
exhibition  booth,  intended  solely  for  the 
purpose  of  displaying  its  contents.  The 
order  chosen  is  Doric,  but  Doric  treated 
in  a  more  airy  and  playful  manner  than 
if  it  were  designed  for  execution  in  an 
enduring  material.  It  is  fancifully  en- 
riched with  pale  color  and  a  profusion 
of  gold.  The  column  rising  from  the 
center  of  the  facade  attains,  with  its  crown- 
ing ball  and  eagle — which  is  by  the  hand 
of  the  now  well-known  sculptor,  Philip 
Martini — a  height  of  one  hundred  feet,  and 
is  strictly  classical  in  its  proportions. 

At  the  point  where  art  and  manufact- 
ures meet,  there  is  no  more  interesting 
class  of  products  than  those  in  bronze. 
Of  these  the  United  States  show  but  few 
examples,  the  best  being  the  busts  by 
Rhind  in  the  Gorham  Manufacturing 
Company's  exhibit.  The  impression 
which  Russia  made  with  her  bronzes  in 
1876  has  been  repeated  here,  but  in  the 
interim  the  works  of  the  chief  Russian 
artists  in  bronze  have  become  familiar  to 
the  American  public.  The  two  exhibitors 
of  Russian  bronzes  at  the  exposition  are 


550 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


N.  Stange  and  C.  F.  Woerffel,  both  of  St. 
Petersburg.  The  former  of  these  is  the 
sole  possessor  of  the  right  to  reproduce 
the  works  of  Eugene  Lanjeray,  whose 
death  in  1885  closed  a  picturesque  and 
brilliant  artistic  career.  Lanyeray's  last 
work,  an  "Arab  Fantasy,"  a  .spirited 
equestrian  piece  done  by  the  artist  when 
fresh  from  the  study  of  the  types  of  the 
desert,  is  on  exhibition  here,  as  are  also 
many  of  his  earlier  and  better  known 
productions.  The  chief  contributors  to 
the  Woerffel  collection  are  Lieberich, 
Ober,  Posen,  Laveretsky,  Popoff,  Grat- 
scheff  and  Bach.  Prince  Potemkin,  the 
favorite  of  Catherine  n.,  has  the  reputa- 
tion of  having  given  the  first  artistic  im- 
pulse to  Russian  bronze  founding.  In  the 
earl 5-  part  of  the  century  Russia's  achieve- 
ments in  this  line  were  more  remarkable 
than  the}-  arein  our  time,  as  the  monument- 
al works  of  the  horses  on  the  Anitchikoff 
bridge,  the  doors  of  St.  Isaac's  cathedral 
and  the  statues  of  Peter  the  Great  and 
Alexander  i.  sufficiently  attest.  The 
most  characteristic  features  of  the  Rus- 
sian bronzes  of  today  are  their  realistic 
modeling  and  finish,  and  the  almost  uni- 
formly national  stamp  of  their  subjects. 
In  this  they  show  a  marked  difference 


from  the  productions  of  the  French 
school  represented  here  in  the  exhibits 
of  LeBlanc  Barbedienne,  Thiebaut  Freres, 
Susses  Freres  and  half  a  dozen  others. 
Among  the  most  notable  pieces  in  the 
Barbedienne  collection  are  Barye's  "  La 
Force  and  L'Ordre"  and  "  Theseus  fight- 
ing the  Centaur."  Other  works  worthy 
of  attention  are  the  "  Plaint  of  Orpheus," 
by  Howard  Verlet,  and  "The  Tiller" 
( A  la  Terre),  by  Boucher.  The  lovers 
of  artistic  tours  de  force  will  be  interested 
in  examining  the  reproduction  of  a  fa- 
mous bronze  from  the  Museum  of  Madrid, 
representing  Charles  v.  standing  over  the 
prostrate  figure  of  conquered  heterodoxy. 
The  armor  of  the  emperor  is  adjustable, 
and  when  taken  off  shows  a  strongly 
molded  figure  harmonizing  perfectly  with 
the  whole  composition.  In  the  same  col- 
lection is  a  great  cabinet  of  ebony  and 
bronze  equally  remarkable  for  workman- 
ship and  design.  Among  the  Susse 
bronzes  the  most  ambitious  is  a  repro- 
duction on  a  scale  of  one-third  of  the 
monument  to  General  Chanzy  erected  at 
Le  Mans.  An  "  Orpheus  and  Eurydice," 
by  August  Paris,  an  "  Algerian  Girl,"  by 
Barrias,  a  very  delightful  conception  of 
"  Mignon,"  by  Mengin,  and  a  delicate 


NEAR     THE    CENTER    OF    THE    BUILDING. 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


551 


LOOKING   DOWN   ON  THE 
EXHIBITS. 


and  spirited  study  by  Moreau  called 
"After  School,"  are  among  the  other 
notable  pieces. 

Interesting  examples  of  the  Cire-Perdue 
or  ' '  Lost  Wax  ' '  process  of  bronze  found- 
ing may  be  studied  in  the  Thiebaut  ex- 
hibit. The  process,  which  consists  of 
casting,  in  one  pouring  and  in  a  single 
piece,  from  a  model  in  wax  which  is 
fused  and  expelled  as  the  molten  metal 
takes  its  place  in  the  surrounding  mold, 
is  said  to  have  been  first  employed  by 
Rhaecus  of  Samos,  700  years  B.C.,  but  its 
revival  dates  from  the  age  of  Columbus — 
the  Italian  renaissance.  The  much-ex- 
hibited Dore  vase  (L,a  Vigne)  occupies 
the  place  of  honor  among  the  Thiebaut 
exhibits. 

In  the  Belgian  court  there  is  a  "  Leoni- 
das  at  Thermop37lae, "  by  Georges  Geefs, 
the  artistic  force  of  which  is  not  enhanced 
by  the  statement  that  it  is  a  product  of 
the  "  Cire-Perdue"  process.  There  is  less 
question  about  the  fitness  of  employing 
the  wax  model  for  the  other  great  Belgian 
bronze,  a  huge  twelve-fronted  vase,  the 
chief  feature  of  whose  lavish  decoration 
is  a  girdling  mass  of  peacock's  feathers 


bent  upwards.  This  shows  an  unusual 
perfection  of  casting  and  bears  the  stamp 
of  Japanese  art  interpreted  and  applied 
by  an  European  sculptor  and  medalist, 
Ringel  D'illzac. 

The  two  chief  exhibitors  of  Italian 
bronzes  are  Nelli  of  Rome,  and  Pendiani 
of  Milan.  The  most  remarkable  works 
shown  by  the  former  are  reproductions  of 
classic  art  from  the  statues  in  the  Vatican 
gallery,  like  the  two  gladiators — Damusse- 
110  and  Creucante — which  stand  at  the  en- 
trance to  the  Italian  pavilion.  The  works 
from  Milan  are  more  varied  and  popular. 
As  a  concession  to  a  commercial  taste, 
Pandiani  has  several  examples  in  silvered 
bronze,  which  may  have  a  certain  fitness 
for  a  group  like  "  Les  Demoiselles  de  la 
Cour,"  but  which,  like  all  that  tends  to 
change  the  true  patinage  of  the  bronze,  is 
a  derogation  of  its  dignity.  The  "Amour 
dans  la  Cave"  of  Guzzardi  is  a  good  ex- 
ample of  the  prevailing  Italian  style  of  art 
in  bronze,  which  derives  its  inspiration 
chiefly  from  pictures  of  attested  popu- 
larity, and  reproduces  some  of  the  least 


552 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


serious  of  incidents  in  the  most  enduring 
of  materials.  Not  so  with  the  Japanese, 
who,  with  all  their  devotion  to  things 
that  sell,  have  not  made  any  essential 
changes  in  their  bronzes  to  suit  the  re- 
quirements of  western  taste.  An  exhib- 
itor from  Tokio  shows  two  vases,  four 
hundred  years  old,  which  are  less  recog- 
nizably oriental  in  treatment  than  the 
contemporary  products  beside  them.  One 
may  object  to  the  lavish  elaboration  of 
detail  in  the  make  up  of  a  titanic  demigod, 
standing  on  the  prostrate  demons  of  the 
nether  world,  but  there  can  be  no  dispute 
about  it  being  pure  Japanese.  The  finest 
bronzes,  as  well  as  lacquer,  which  Japan 
sends  here,  are  in  the  Art  building. 

In  jewelry,  the  United  States  challenges 
comparison  with  the  world.  The  foreign 
exhibits  are  not  equal,  either  in  quantity 
or  in  quality,  to  those  made  at  the  Paris 


itors  being  content,  apparently,  with 
stereotyped  commercial  forms.  There  is 
a  fancifully  set  case  of  Baroque  pearls 
which  are  specialh-  interesting,  but  they 
do  little  more  than  duplicate  those  of 
Dinglinger  made  two  centuries  ago.  The 
English  jewelry  exhibit  is  notably  weak, 
and  what  there  is  of  it  suggests  a  still 
more  slavish  adhesion  to  accepted  designs 
than  those  of  German}^  The  best  East 
India  work  is  not  represented  at  all,  and 
Ital}',  with  all  its  profusion,  can  hardly 
have  been  said  to  have  maintained  its 
past  great  reputation.  It  is  to  be  regretted 
that  Siam  withdrew  a  superb  collection 
of  antique  enamel  and  jewelled  gold  work 
for  lack  of  a  guarantee  of  absolute  safet}-. 
In  the  few  exhibits  of  pure  jewelry 
made  by  France,  that  of  Vever,  one  of  its 
greatest  jewelers,  is  preeminent.  His 
case  contains  man}'  fine  gems,  and  some 


THE  RUSSIAN   SECTION. 


exposition  of  1889.  Three  or  four  of  the 
leading  jewelers  of  France  are  missing 
here ;  and  Russia,  Denmark  and  Norway, 
with  the  exception  of  the  transparent 
enamels  which  were  only  in  the  experi- 
mental stage,  show  nothing  that  is  novel. 
The  jewelry  of  Germany  is  strikingly 
deficient  in  originality,  the  Hanatt  exhib- 


large  floral  pieces  in  diamonds  treated 
with  unusual  taste  and  success.  There  is 
also  a  jewel  casket,  which  is  an  exquisite 
specimen  of  enameled  work,  and  an  illum- 
inated missal  whose  cover  is  a  marvel  of 
rich  and  beautiful  enameling.  A  night 
lamp,  in  gold  and  silver,  is  also  a  fine 
example  of  the  use  of  enamel,  and  some 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


553 


ENTRANCE   TO    THE    ITALIAN    SECTION. 


rock  ciystal  whist-counters,  incised  from 
below  with  Louis  Quinze  designs,  repre- 
sent unique  and  characteristic  types  of 
manipulation. 

In  all  that  suggests  progress,  either  in 
workmanship  or  design,  in  the  products 
of  the  silversmith,  the  great  American 
exhibitors  show  a  superiority  as  clearly 
marked  as  in  jewelry.  England,  the 
home  of  silverware,  sends  here  a  few 
small  cases  of  articles  of  antique  design, 
reinforced  only  by  a  combined  exhibit  of 
the  Manufacturing  Goldsmiths'  and  Sil- 
versmiths' Company,  which  has  patrioti- 
cally undertaken  to  occupxthe  place  left 
vacant  by  artificers  of  greater  note.  This 
firm  shows  a  Columbian  shield,  on  which 
are  represented  various  scenes  illustrative 
of  the  discovery  of  America.  It  is  a  piece 
of  work  more  obviously  painstaking  than 
artistic.  A  similar  criticism  will  apply 
to  the  caskets  in  the  same  pavilion,  which 
are,  however,  interesting  examples  of  the 


art  of  damascening  as  practised  in  Eng- 
land. Germany  shows  nothing  but  re- 
productions of  the  sixteenth  and  seven- 
teenth century  and  other  periods  of  the 
past  of  silverware,  but  among  the  Imperial 
Government  exhibits  there  are  a  number 
of  presentation  pieces  of  the  greatest  his- 
torical value.  The  liberality  with  which 
the  most  distinguished  men  of  the  empire 
and  the  representatives  of  other  countries, 
now  no  longer  living,  have  lent  these 
priceless  articles  for  exhibition  here,  is 
merely  part  of  the  generous  and  magnani- 
mous policy  which  Germany  has  dis- 
played in  her  whole  connection  with  the 
Fair. 

Russia,  Norway  and  Denmark  show 
a  great  deal  of  silver,  most  of  it  having  a 
purely  commercial  stamp.  Nowhere  has 
the  souvenir  rage  run  riot  so  manifestly 
as  in  the  silver  exhibits  at  the  Fair. 
From  the  Russian  and  Scandinavian  ex- 
amples in  this  line  it  is  apparent  that 


554 


A   WORLD'S  FAIR. 


AN    KXHIBIT   OF   BRONZES. 


while  such  a  stimulus  as  this  may  have 
promoted  production,  it  yields  nothing  in 
art  above  the  level  of  the  commonplace. 
The  Russians  are  represented  by  two  of 
their  leading  firms.  Both  have  some  fine 
examples  of  the  peculiar  Byzantine  type  of 
decoration.  In  the  Moscow  case  there  are 
samples  of  presentation  silverware,  like 
the  magnificent  platter  belonging  to  the 
Czarewitch,  a  bowl  of  the  Preobra-Jensky 
Life  Guard,  and  a  model  of  a  Greek  gal- 
ley, which  reveal  a  noticeable  originality 
and  felicit\-  of  treatment.  In  the  Turk- 
ish pavilion,  there  is  a  vase  and  a  tea-set 
made  of  a  combination  of  silver  with  a 
green,  transparent  enamel,  which  are 
among  the  most  beautiful  examples  of 
such  work  at  the  exposition. 

But  the  triumphs  of  the  art  of  the 
silversmith  are  to  be  found  in  the  Ameri- 
can exhibits.  Among  the  most  novel  and 
charming  features  of  the  Gorham  exhibit 
are  a  number  of  examples  of  translucent 


enamels  worked  on  silver  fret- work.  The 
gem  of  the  collection  is  a  cup  of  fine 
blues,  which  will  stand  comparison  with 
the  best  work  of  the  Russian  originals  of 
this  kind  of  art.  There  are  also  some 
fine  pitchers  and  vases,  made  by  blowing 
colored  glass  into  pieces  of  silver  worked 
into  open  engraved  designs,  and  the 
treatment  here  of  Rookwood  pottery  by 
enveloping  it  in  silver  and  afterwards,  by 
cutting,  making  a  rich  combination  be- 
tween the  exposed  surface  of  the  pottery 
and  the  metal,  is  a  novel  and  interesting 
achievement. 

In  the  Tiffany  pavilion  the  silverwork 
embraces  the  blending  with  enamels  of  all 
kinds,  both  transparent  and  opaque,  but 
more  especialty  the  latter,  of  several  colors 
or  tints  in  a  single  field.  There  are  also 
superb  examples  of  the  inlaying  of  lapis- 
lazuli,  sapphires,  rubies,  rhodonite,  jade, 
smithsonite,  moonstone,  niello  and  other 
gems,  copper,  shodo  and  other  quaint  and 


A   WORLD'S  FAIR. 


555 


curious    metals.     The  great  magnolia  enameled  vase,  the 
American    flower  set   in   Souchow  chasing,  the  Viking 
bowls  in  etched  iron  and  damascene  work,  are  original 
and  decided    advances    in   the  silversmith's   art.      The 
flower    set   represents  work    forty   times  the  value  of 
the  silver. 

The  superb  Russian  exhibit  of  the  Imperial  Lapi- 
dary works  at  Peterhof,   Ekaterinburg  and  Barnauhl 
claims  attention  here.     It  consists  of  two  very  re- 
markable pieces  of   a  rich    green    jade,  one  in  the 
form   of    a  Roman   vase,    about   thirteen   inches    in 
diameter  and  ten  inches  high,  the  other  an  o'blong 
vessel,   fifteen  inches  by  eight,  scroll-like  in  form, 
in  the  style  of  Louis  Quinze.     Both  dishes  are  of 
such    thinness   and  translucency  that  their   color 
seems  to  be  continual^  changing.     They  are  ac- 
companied by  a  very  striking  coupe  of  rhodonite,  a 
cup  of  milky  quartz,  with  transparent  spots,  and  a 
small  bowl,  with  movable  handle,  made  out  of  one 
piece  of  milk}'  quartz.     The  central  feature  of  the 


PANESE   SECTION. 


exhibit  is  to  be  found  in  three 
magnificent  cabinets  of  a 
hard  stone  mosaic,  which, 
with  the  dishes  grouped 
around  them,  constitute  prob- 
ably the  most  remarkable 
foreign  contribution  sent  to 
the  exposition.  The  central 
cabinet  and  the  one  to  the 
right  show  on  their  panels 
richly-colored  tropical  scenes. 
The  one  has  a  blue  fond  of 
lapis-lazuli,  the  leaves  being 
of  green  Kalkanski  jasper, 
and  the  plumage  of  the  trop- 
ical birds  being  formed  by 
various  colors  of  amethyst, 
lapis-lazuli  and  other  gems. 
The  other  is  remarkable  in 
having  a  white  fond,  and 
shows  a  pelican  with  a  fish 
in  its  beak,  set  in  a  rich  bit 
of  forest  scenery. 

In  the  front  of  the  arched 
entrance  to  the  French  court 
stand  two  green  and  two  blue 
vases,  the  production  of  the 
national  porcelain  factories  of 
Sevres.  The  blues  have  the 
well-known  and  incompar- 
able depth  of  color  which 


556 


A   WORLD'S  FAIR. 


the  pate  tendre  foreign  imitators  have 
vainly  tried  to  produce.  The  greens  are 
the  latest  achievement  of  Sevres  arti- 
ficers and  are  the  pride  of  the  collection, 
albeit  the  casual  observer  probably  takes 
them  for  granted,  with  the  same  indiffer- 
ence that  he  does  other  triumphs  of 
manufacturing  art  in  this  building.  The 
Sevres  factory  sent  here  about  two  thou- 
sand different  pieces,  all  of  which,  with 
the  exception  of  certain  pieces  which 
could  not  be  replaced  and  which  are  to  be 
returned  to  the  museum,  were  offered  for 
sale.  It  is  creditable  to  the  discernment 


The  combination  and  shading  one  into 
another  of  its  yellows,  bronzes,  greens 
and  blues  furnish  a  suggestive  study  in 
the  use  of  color.  The  exhibit  of  the 
royal  Berlin  porcelain  factory  dominates 
the  German  court  as  much  as  the  pavilion 
in  which  it  is  contained.  In  the  construc- 
tion of  the  pavilion  itself  there  is  a  lib- 
eral use  of  hard  porcelain.  The  Sara- 
cenic columns,  called  "Old  Berlin,"  in 
front  of  it,  are  of  this  material,  as  are 
the  remarkable  panels  of  the  seasons,  on 
which  are  depicted  certain  charming  fig- 
ures. The  portrait  of  the  emperor  is 


OF    INTEREST   TO   CHILDREN. 


of  the  American  purchaser  that  all  but  a 
very  few  were  sold  before  the  middle  of 
July.  The  great  Limoges  factories  are 
well  represented  here,  in  white  and  deco- 
rated porcelain,  and  from  Yvry-Port,  near 
Paris,  there  is  a  very  striking  exhibit  of 
enameled  terracotta.  The  reproduction, 
on  a  scale  of  one- fourth,  of  the  famous 
"Frieze  of  the  Archers,"  brought  from 
Suza,  Persia,  by  M.  and  Mme.  Dieulafoy 
and  deposited  in  the  Loxivre,  is  a  work 
calculated  to  take  the  eye  of  the  artist, 
no  less  than  that  of  the  archaeologist. 


shown  on  the  largest  piece  ever  made 
of  hard  porcelain.  Among  other  deco- 
rations of  the  pavilion  are,  underglaze, 
panels  about  eight  feet  square,  showing 
a  symphony  of  Spring  and  of  Summer, 
by  Paul  Meyerheim.  A  fine  white  chim- 
ney-piece, rococo  in  style,  is  a  notable 
feature  of  the  exhibit,  and  the  contents 
of  a  bath-room  on  one  side  and  a  din- 
ing-room on  the  other  bring  out  very 
strongly  the  extent  and  variety  of  the 
product  of  this  great  factory,  whose 
rapid  advance  is  largely  due  to  the  ad- 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


557 


ministrative  energy  and  taste  of  Rich- 
ard Horstman  and  the  artistic  skill  of 
Professor  Kips.  The  royal  Saxon  porce- 
lain factory  at  Meissen  has  an  exhibit  less 
ample  in  extent,  but  not  less  interesting 
and  characteristic.  Most  of  the  pieces 
have  been  made  specially  for  the  exposi- 
tion, and  some  of  them,  notably  the  com- 
ponents of  a  dinner  service  in  royal  blue 
and  gilt,  with  Greek  border  and  a  large 
floral  decoration  filling  the  center  of  the 
plates,  are  the  first  of  their  kind  ever 
turned  out  from  the  factory.  Only  less 
novel  are  two  magnificent  royal  blue 
vases,  about  three  and  a  half  feet  high, 
with  platinum  decoration  and  bearing  rep- 
resentations of  the  four  seasons,  from 
original  paintings  in  the  Munich  gallery, 
by  Cornelius  the  elder.  These,  with  two 
pale  blue  vases,  bearing  an  exquisite  pate- 
sur-pate  decoration,  are  evidences  of  how 
magnificent  a  patron  of  art  was  the  late 
King  Ludvvig,  for  whom  the  originals 
were  made. 

Flourishing  without  state  aid  or  any 
munificent  degree  of  royal  patronage,  the 
English  potteries  make  a  very  fine  ex- 
hibit here.  It  is,  perhaps,  the  one  depart- 
ment of  artistic  manufacture  in  wyhich 
England  demonstrates  that  she  has  noth- 


ing to  fear  from  the  competition  of  the 
world,  and  the  one  in  which  can  be  clearly 
recognized  the  influence  of  the  art  culture 
of  which  the  South  Kensington  museum 
has  been  the  center.  Magnificent  as  is 
this  group  of  exhibits,  it  was  rivaled 
in  Paris  in  1889.  The  well-established 
and  distinctive  excellences  of  the  re- 
nowned English  factories  are  well  illus- 
trated, and  there  are  some  new  depart- 
ures, hitherto  unknown  to  Americans, 
with  which  the  Fair  has  made  us  famil- 
iar. One  of  these  is  shown  in  the  works 
of  Sir  Edmund  Elton,  whose  ware,  de- 
signed by  himself  and  made  from  clay 
on  his  own  estate,  presents  deep,  harmo- 
nious metallic  blendings  of  red,  green 
and  yellow,  in  underglazes. 

The  exhibit  of  the  Royal  Porcelain 
Manufactory  of  Copenhagen  shows  some 
remarkable  evidences  of  progress,  no  less 
in  artistic  conception  than  in  the  pro- 
cesses of  preparation.  The  coloring  is  of 
the  simplest,  but  the  combination  of  the 
shadowy  blues  and  greens  on  the  white 
ground  is  done  with  surpassing  delicacy 
and  grace.  Of  blue  and  white  ware  there 
are  some  excellent  examples  in  the  courts 
both  of  Belgium  and  Holland.  The  large 
vase  with  cupids  and  mask  handles,  by 


ENTRANCE   TO   THE    GKKMAN    SECTION. 


558 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


A  PORCKLAIN   EXHIBIT. 


Bach  Freres  of  Belgixim,  is  one  of  the 
finest  pieces  of  this  kind  to  be  seen  here. 
The  Delft  exhibit  has  a  great  profusion 
of  tiles,  panels  and  other  articles  of  a 
highly  decorative  character,  in  the  same 
colors.  Among  American  potteries, 
Rookwood,  so  successful  in  Paris  in 
1889,  has  a  fine  exhibit  which  amply 
sustains  the  claim  made  on  behalf  of 
this  institution,  that  the  conditions 
under  which  it  was  founded  and  has 
been  conducted  have  developed  an 
American  pottery  which  possesses 
marked  originality.  The  Trenton  pot- 
ters show  many  fine  pieces,  but  this  is 
not  a  representative  exhibit. 

Japan  exhibits  an  immense  quantity 
of  enamels  of  all  grades,  many  of  a 
merely  commercial  standard,  and  others 
debased  by  misdirected  subservience  to 
French  art.  The  Namihawa  vases  are 
notably  fine,  showing  on  a  delicately- 
colored  field,  fleurs-de-lys,  winged  drag- 
ons, a  phoenix,  and  other  decorations. 
The  eight  feet  high  cloisonne  chrys- 
anthemum vases,  at  the  south  entrance 
to  the  Japanese  court,  are  among  the 
largest  pieces  of  enamel  work  ever 
produced. 

In  most  of  the  foreign  courts,  particu- 
larly in  the  Austrian,  there  is  a  lavish 


display  of  glass  artistically  treated.  Lob- 
meyer  of  Vienna,  exhibits  some  remark- 
able examples  of  intaglio  engraved  glass, 
as  well  as  of  glass  decorated  with  gold 

\ 


AN    EXHIBIT    FROM    BELGIUM. 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


559 


applied  in  very  high  relief  in  Louis 
Quinze,  rococo  and  other  forms.  The 
entire  Austrian  section,  but  notably  the 
glass  exhibits,  show  the  influence  of  an 
exceptionally  advanced  system  of  indus- 
trial education  under  which  well  equipped 
art  schools  are  maintained  in  towns  of 
only  10,000  inhabitants.  In  the  German 
court,  Fischer  of  Berlin,  shows  some  deli- 
cate glass  forms  very  artistically  en- 
graved. In  the  French,  Leveille  and 
Dauni  Freres  expose  engraved  and  rich- 
ly colored  original  pieces  of  glass  simu- 
lating jade,  rock  crystal,  amethyst  and 
hard  stones,  as  well  as  antique  Chinese 
glass.  In  glass  mosaic  combined  with 
gold  the  great  portraits  by  Troloff  of  St. 

Petersburg, 
of  Vladimir 
the  Great, 
and  St.  Cyril 


are  among  the  richest  examples  of  this 
kind  of  work  to  lie  seen  here.  In  cut 
glass  the  exhibits  of  the  Libbey  Glass 
Company  and  of  L.  Straus  &  Sons  fully 
sustain  the  reputation  which  the  United 
States  have  gained  in  this  field. 

Lack  of  space  renders  it  impossible  to 
do  justice  to  some  superb  exhibits  of 
wrought-iron  work  Of  the  inlaying  of 
gold  on  iron  the  two  superb,  gigantic. 
Damascened  vases  sent  by  Felipi  Sanchez 
of  Spain,  are  most  magnificent  exam- 
ples. One  cannot  either  make  even 
casual  notice  of  the  great  furniture  ex- 
hibits. In  the  absence  of  makers  like 
Herter  Brothers,  Cottier  and  others,  the 
American  display  in  this  group  leaves 
a  good  deal  to  be  desired,  but  a  charm- 
ing reproduction  by  Herts  of  a  Louis 
Quinze  boudoir  in  cream  and  gold  does 
much  to  relieve  the  common-place  char- 
acter of  the  American  exhibit.  In  fur- 
niture and  interior  decorations  the 
French  are  notably  first,  but  mention 
should  be  made  of  the  very  artistic  in- 
stallation made  by  Professor  Seidl  of 
Munich,  under  which  are 
comprised  the  reproduction 
of  interiors  from  one  of  the 
royal  palaces  of  Bavaria. 
Of  the  same  order  is  the  re- 
duced facsimile  of  the  din- 
ing-room inHatfield  House 
and  the  interesting  exhibit 
made  by  our  own  Sypher  in 
the  gallery,  not  the  least  of 
the  contributions  made  here 
to  the  education  of  popular 
taste  in  the  highest  forms 
of  the  combination  of 
beauty  with  utility. 


FACADE,  FRENCH  SECTION. 


AN   OUTSIDER'S   VIEW   OF  THE   WOMAN'S   EXHIBIT. 


BY  ELLEN  M.  HENROTIN. 


NOT  until  the  close  of  the  Columbian 
exposition  and  the  statistics  have 
been  compiled  and  the  juries  announce 
their  awards,  can  a  complete  report  be 
written  of  the  woman's  exhibit  at  the 
Columbian  exposition,  for  woman's  work 
at  the  exposition  is  exhibited  side  b}-  side 
with  that  of  man,  so  that  in  the  main 
buildings  it  is  impossible  to  distinguish 
without  an  exhaustive  study  of  the  cata- 
logue, to  which  sex  the  honors  are  due, 
unless  some  special  feature  like  the  boat 
of  Grace  Darling  in  the  Transportation 
building  challenges  our  attention. 

When  the  board  of  lady  managers  was 
organized  in  1890,  it  was  thought  best  not 
to  make  the  Woman's  building  an  exhibit 
building,  but  as  the  installation  pro- 
gressed, and  the  work  of  women  devel- 
oped and  crystallized  there  was  found  to 
be  a  general  desire  that  the  really  fine  ex- 
hibits which  were  to  be  installed  in  the 
Woman's  building  should  not  be  .shut 
out  from  award.  The  director-general 


recommended  that  the  Woman's  building 
be  declared  an  exhibit  building,  and  it  has 
been  so  declared. 

In  all  respects  the  exhibits  of  women 
are  upon  the  same  basis  as  all  other  ex- 
hibits in  the  Columbian  exposition. 

Great  results  are  expected  from  the 
presence  of  women  on  the  board  of  judges 
in  the  department  of  Liberal  Arts,  as  in 
liberal  arts  is  included  the  exhibition  re- 
lating to  education,  philanthropy,  reforms 
and  relative  subjects.  This  exhibit  comes 
from  the  whole  world,  and  if  examined 
with  the  painstaking  care  which  women 
bring  to  ever}-  subject,  the  specific  points 
~bf  excellence  in  these  various  exhibits 
will  be  brought  to  light,  and  the  women 
judges  will,  no  doubt,  have  the  sustained 
enthusiasm  to  earnestly  urge  the  adoption 
of  new  methods. 

The  tale  has  been  so  often  told  of  the 
inception  of  the  Woman's  building,  and 
of  Miss  Sophia  Hayden's  being  awarded 
the  first  prize  and  appointed  the  architect, 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


that  it  is  superfluous  to  further  enlarge  on 
that  theme.  The  decorations  of  the  build- 
ing are  a  part  of  the  woman's  exhibit,  as 
they  were  executed  by  women,  and  the 
entire  decoration  and  installation  of  ex- 
hibits was  placed  in  charge  of  Mrs.  Can- 
dace  Wheeler,  who  through  the  long,  bit- 
terly cold  months  of  March  and  April  was 
carried  away  by  enthusiasm  for  her  task 
and  was  always  cheerful  and  hopeful. 

The  court  of  the  Woman's  building  has 
a  frieze  at  each  end,  painted  by  American 
women,  Mrs.  Mary  MacMonnies  and  Miss 
Cassatt.  Both  decorations  are  too  high 
to  be  effective,  and  the  space  is  too  small 
in  which  they  are  placed;  the  subject  of 
one  panel  is  "The  Primitive  Woman," 
and  of  the  other  "The  Modern  Woman." 
Mrs.  MacMonnies  work  is  reverent  in  tone 
and  dignified  in  treatment.  This  frieze  is 
not  divided  by  sharp  lines  as  is  that  of 
Miss  Cassatt,  and,  if  hung  where  it  could 
be  seen  to  better  advantage,  would  be  the 
most  successful  example  of  mural  decora- 
tion in  the  building.  Miss  Cas- 
satt's  panel  is  "cynical,"  and  is 
the  one  note  of  discord  in  the  har- 
mony of  color.  On  each  side  of 
the  main  entrances  are  panels 
painted  by  Emma  Sherwood  and 
Rosina  Emtuett  Sherwood. 

The  mural  painting,  in  the  east 
vestibule,  is  by  Anna  Lea  Merritt, 
of  England,  and,  while  the  friezes 
in  the  main  hall  are  too  high  for 
the  delicate  handling  of  the  many 
figures,  the  panels  in  the  en- 
trance are  too  heroic  in  treatment, 
and  hung  too  low  to  be  seen  to 
advantage. 

Anne  Whitney's  statue  of  Lief 
Ericson  is  a  masterwork  of  art, 
deserving  to  be  placed  where  the 
nobility  of  its  proportions  may  be 
seen.  It  is  at  present,  unfortu- 
nately, hidden  from  view  by  a  pillar 
behind  it,  and  the  fountain  in  the 
center  of  the  rotunda  in  front  of  it. 

To  continue  with  the  art  exhibit. 
The  library  designed  and  executed 
by  Dora  Wheeler  Keith  is  the  most 
beautiful  room  in  the  building. 
The  Cincinnati  parlor,  the  work 
of  Miss  Agnes  Pitman,  is  extreme- 
ly cool  and  pleasing.  In  this  room 
can  be  found  a  most  interesting  ex- 
hibit, showing  the  evolution  of  the 


Rookwood  pottery — which  was  discovered 
by  a  woman — and  wrhich  may  be  said  to 
be  the  only  national  potter}'. 

Of  the  pictures  which  hang  in  the  main 
hall,  one  of  the  best  is  '  'Jean  and  Jacques, ' ' 
by  Marie  Bashkirtseff ;  and  also  apastelle 
by  Miss  Cassatt  is  good. 

Viewing  the  entire  collection  of  paint- 
ings as  a  whole,  they  seem  comparatively 
inferior  to  the  other  exhibits,  lacking 
warmth,  color  and  depth  of  tone.  Woman 
has  not  as  yet  (if  the  collection  in  the 
Woman's  building  is  a  faithful  represen- 
tation of  her  work)  mastered  the  art  of 
painting. 

The  exquisite  etchings  and  drawings 
by  women  emphasize  what  is  lacking  in 
the  paintings,  which  is  not  woman's 
inabilitjr  to  master  technique,  but  her  in- 
abilit}'  to  use  color. 

The  most  valuable  exhibits  are  those  of 
the  applied  arts,  in  which  tapestry,  china, 
stained  glass,  mechanical  drawings  and 
fabrics  may  be  included. 


562 


A   WORLD'S  FAIR. 


The  stained  glass  win- 
dows in  the  assembly  room 
— especially  the  two  back 
of  the  platform,  designed 
and  executed  by  Elizabeth 
Parsons  and  Edith  Brown, 
of  Boston — emphasize  the 
skill  of  women  in  stained 
glass. 

In  the  Applied  Arts  sec- 
tion the  gold  china  attracts 
a  great  deal  of  attention, 
being  the  result  of  many 
experiments  on  the  part  of 
a  young  woman  who  has 
been  offered  large  sums  of 
money  to  reveal  her  secret. 
She  keeps  it,  however,  and 
continues  to  produce  the 
beautiful  china  herself. 

In  the  Cincinnati  room, 
in  the  section  of  the  Associated  Artists 
of  New  York,  and  in  the  Chicago  and 
Massachusetts  cases,  as  well  as  in  the  ex- 
hibit made  by  the  Associated  League  of 
Mineral  Painters,  there  is  a  very  beauti- 
ful display  of  decorated  china. 

The  Scientific  department  shows  re- 
searches on  the  lines  of  botany,  geology, 
mineralogy  and  zoology. 

One  most  notable  collection  of  minerals 
and  fossils  has  been  made  by  Mrs.  A.  D. 
Davidson,  of  Omaha,  Neb.  Perhaps  no 
display  illustrates  more  fully  the  advance 
of  women  in  new  fields  than  does  the 
scientific  exhibit. 

The  ethnological  room  contains  many 
cases  filled  with  articles  of  wearing  ap- 
parel and  implements  for  home  and  farm 
use,  also  relics  which  Mrs.  French  Shel- 
don collected  during  her  extensive  ex- 
plorations in  Africa.  In  the  invention 
room  are  manj*  interesting  devices,  though 
none  of  the  most  valuable  and  scientific 
inventions  are  shown  in  this  room,  and  it 
seems  a  pity  that  when  the  patent  books 
of  the  United  States  show  such  hundreds 
and  hundreds  of  women's  names,  that 
more  might  not  have  been  represented. 

The  Nursing  section,  in  which  wonder- 
ful appliances  are  exhibited,  is  of  great 
interest.  Through  the  influence  of  these 
exhibits  sanitary  conditions  and  future 
methods  of  caring  for  the  sick  will  un- 
doubtedl}7  be  greatly  improved. 

There  is  also  a  model  kitchen  in  the 
Woman's  building,  where  daily  lessons  in 


the  art  of  cooking  are  given. 
The  organization  room  is 
the  headquarters  for  all  the 
women's  clubs  and  organi- 
zations in  America.  The 
space  allotted  to  each  is 
beautifully  decorated,  and 
a  custodian  is  in  charge  for 
each  organization,  to  an- 
swer questions  and  greet 
the  members. 

In  the  assembly  room 
lectures  are  given  twice  a 
day,  of  general  interest. 

The  Children's  building 
would  take  a  long  article 
for  itself.  Its  educational 
value  as  an  object  lesson 
is  immense  in  all  that  per- 
tains to  the  care  and  educa- 
tion of  children. 

Among  the  nations  which  have  made 
special  exhibits  of  women's  work  are  the 
following  : 

British.  This  exhibit  is  small  but  very 
interesting,  containing  articles  which  were 
made  and  sent  to  the  Columbian  exposi- 
tion by  their  Royal  Highnesses  the  Prin- 
cesses Christian,  Beatrice,  Louise,  the 
Duchess  of  Teck,  Princess  of  Teck,  and 
Her  Majesty  the  Queen. 

The  queen's  water-colors  hanging  in 
the  east  galley  receive  the  most  atten- 
tion. The  Baroness  Burdett-Coutts'  phil- 
anthropic work  is  most  extensively  dis- 
played by  photographs,  pamphlets  and 
medals  in  the  assembU'-  room,  the  walls 
of  which  on  the  south  and  west  side  are 
thickly  hung  with  photographs  of  the 
world's  most  noted  \vomen. 

Mrs.  Bedford  Fenwick  is  installed  the 
Nursing  section,  which  is  extremel}r  well 
done  and  one  of  the  most  valuable  exhib- 
its in  the  Woman's  building. 

Siamese.  Here  the  principal  exhibit  is 
needlework,  that  being  the  work  of  the 
women  of  that  country.  The  embroider- 
ies are  of  fine  execution  and  design,  one 
piece  representing  the  passing  of  the  king 
before  one  of  the  temples. 

Norway.  This  exhibit  principally  con- 
sists of  industrial  needlework,  crochet- 
ing, some  specimens  of  weaving,  etc. 
Table  covers  and  rugs  form  a  consider- 
able portion  of  the  exhibit.  Dolls  are 
dressed  as  brides  from  the  different  parts 
of  Norway.  A  case  of  hair  flowers  made 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


563 


564 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


wall  side  of  the  exhibit,  is  the  needle- 
work of  one  of  the  schools,  in  a  repro- 
duction of  the  silk  curtains  and  plush 
lambrequin  belonging  to  the  president 
of  the  republic.  Some  vases  of  un- 
usual size,  in  Sevres  underglazing,  by 
French  artists,  are  exceedingly  pretty. 

A  history  of  Frenchwomen's  dresses, 
commencing  with  the  primitive  epoch, 
is  clearly  and  effective^1  shown,  some  of 
the  costumes  having  been  scrupulously 
copied  from  portraits  of  the  famous 
queens  of  France,  from  tapestry  and 
from  paintings  in  the  Louvre.  The 
dolls  are  not  the  ordinary  children's 
dolls,  but  have  evidently  been  made  for 
this  exhibition,  as  they  show  the  pro- 
portions of  a  woman's  figure,  and  the 
full  record  of  French  fashions  may  here 
be  seen. 

Much  needlework  in  infants'  clothes 
is  shown,  from  the  dainty  cradle,  down- 
lined  and  silk-covered,  to  the  short  dress 
of  the  toddler. 

Every  lace  thing  that  can  be  thought 
of  is  exhibited  in  this  department ;  to 
try  to  enumerate  them  would  be  but 
endless  repetition,  and  one  scarcely 
knows  what  to  select.  Gloves  are  also 
shown  as  manufactured  by  women. 
Ribbon  flowers  are  exhibited  of  so  high 
an  order  as  to  quite  surpass  the  ordinary 
art.  So  high  a  value  is  put  upon  this 
work  that  none  but  the  girls  and  women 
who  make  it  can  buy  the  ribbons. 


fifty  years  ago  shows  that  little  if  anything 
new  has  been  learned  since  that  time. 

Sweden.  In  this  department  is  a  series  of 
models  illustrating  Miss  Hulda  Lundin's  sys- 
tem of  teaching  needlework  in  school.  Here, 
also,  is  shown  some  fine  lace-work  and  hand- 
some wood-carving. 

Mexico.  The  specialty  of  Mexican  women 
seems  to  be  fine  drawn  work  and  embroidery ; 
the  rest  of  their  work  is  crude  in  coloring  and 
material,  but  the  lace  effect  produced  in  their 
crochet  is  marvellous  ;  for  instance,  a  lace- 
edged  handkerchief  crocheted  out  of  pineap- 
ple fiber  is  exceedingly  delicate.  They  excel 
in  wood-carving,  much  of  which,  in  fine 
white  wood,  is  so  delicate  as  to  be  called  an 
etching.  Mexican  costumes  are  here  shown, 
probablj^  festival  dresses  of  the  middle  and 
lower  classes. 

French.  The  first  thing  in  this  section 
which  attracts  attention,  beginning  at  the 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


565 


MRS.  POTTER  PALMER'S  OFFICE. 


To  so  high  a  degree  of  perfection  is 
needlework  carried  in  France,  that  famous 
paintings  are  reproduced  in  silks  with 
excellent  effect.  The  young  ladies  of  the 
College  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  have  a 
specimen  of  their  work  in  guipure  cur- 
tains and  silk-embroidered  lambrequin. 

Italian.  This  exhibit  consists  entirely 
of  lace.  Besides  the  finished  laces,  there 
are  sections  of  it  in  different  stages  of 
making,  and  dressed  figures  of  peasant 
women,  with  their  pillows  and  bobbins, 
showing  the  process  of  making.  Here  is 
shown  the  queen's  collection  of  laces, 
valued  at  one  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

Japan.  Here  is  a  Japanese  woman's 
boudoir.  It  is  exceedingl}'  interesting  as 
showing  the  surroundings  of  a  Japanese 
woman  in  her  home.  Her  -wardrobe  is 
conveniently  hung  on  a  rack  in  the  room, 
the  dress  hanging  on  the  upper  bar  of  the 
rack,  and  the  sash  on  the  lower.  Adjoin- 
ing the  boudoir  is  a  study  or  reception- 
room.  Here  is  the  ciistomary  mat  in  the 
center  of  the  room,  on  which  are  placed 
musical  instruments  and  little  low  read- 
ing tables.  Also  a  brazier  for  fire. 

Spain.  Priestly  vestments  are  here 
embroidered  with  gold  and  jewels.  A  rep- 


resentation of  the  cathedral  where  the 
king  attends  divine  worship  is  shown  in 
fine  thread  embroidery,  which  is  most  del- 
icate. Medallions  of  the  Queen  Regent, 
the  deceased  king,  and  the  little  king  are 
exhibited,  reproducing  the  features  most 
faithfully.  Pillow-lace  work  is  here  in 
process  of  making,  with  the  bobbins 
hanging  to  the  pillow  as  if  the  worker 
had  just  left  it. 

Most  wonderful  medallions,  embroid- 
ered of  finest  thread,  are  made  "by  the 
Spanish  women,  showing  the  features  as 
distinct!}'  as  if  cut  in  marble. 

Ceylon.  There  are  embroidery  and  laces 
here,  though  the  principal  exhibit  in  this 
booth  is  tea,  a  sample  cup  of  which  can 
be  had  for  five  cents. 

Austria.  The  lace  in  this  department 
is  a  rather  meager  collection,  but  of  beau- 
tiful design.  Kid  gloves  of  beautiful  qual- 
ity are  elaborately  decorated  with  paint- 
ing, small  flowers,  chiefly  lilies  of  the  val- 
ley and  forget-me-nots.  Fans  are  also 
elaborately  decorated  with  hand-painted 
designs.  Fine  gold  thread  embroider}'  is 
exhibited.  A  screen  painted  by  Her  Im- 
perial Highness  the  Archduchess  Maria 
Theresa  is  shown  ;  the  frame  is  of  simply 


carved  antique  oak,  the 
center  panel  is  of  flowers, 
painted,  and  the  side 
panels  of  palms. 

Belgium.  This  exhibit 
is  principally  of  the  peas- 
ant woman's  lace-work 
which  attracts  special  at- 
tention for  the  dainty 
designs. 

Germany.  The  bent 
iron-work  done  by  the  wo- 
men of  Germany,  one  of 
whom  sits  at  a  table  and 
manufactures  it  before  the 
e}-es  of  the  wondering  vis 
itor,  is  exhibited  in  hanging-lamps,  can- 
dle holders,  ink-stands,  etc.  Over  in  one 
corner  of  the  German  exhibit  is  a  beau- 
tifully mounted  lyre,  unstrung,  the  center 
filled  with  swinging  leaves  containing 
photographs  of  Germany's  noted  women 
musicians. 

Next  is  a  case  filled  with  dolls  dressed 
in  the  uniforms  of  the  various  orders  or 
organizations  of  the  different  provinces  of 
German}-.  Leather- work  in  great  variety 
is  shown  in  tables  and  screens.  A  mod- 
ern kindergarten  house  and  working  ap- 
paratus is  exhibited  in  detail. 

To  compare  the  exhibits  of  woman's 
work  with  that  of  previous  expositions  is 
to  realize  that  a  revolution  has  been  ef- 
fected, not  alone  in  woman's  position, 
but  in  modern  civilization.  Had  such  a 
change  taken  place  in  the  social  and 
economic  conditions  of  one  race  of  peo- 
ple, the  whole  civilized  world  would  have 
heralded  it  with  acclamation,  but  as  it 
affects  the  peaceful  half  of  the  popula- 
tion of  the  civilized  \vorld  it  awakens 
hardly  a  ripple  of  excitement. 

Several  salient  points  present  them- 
selves to  the  consideration  in  connection 
with  the  material  exhibits.  First,  that 
woman  is  now  a  great  factor  in  the 
economic  condition  of  all  countries  ;  for 
in  continental  Europe  she  is  the  hewer 
of  wood  and  drawer  of  water,  in  order 
that  men  may  be  soldiers  to  keep  em- 
perors and  kings  on  tottering  thrones  ; 
in  England  and  America  the  stretch  of 
commercialism  has  pushed  her  out  of  the 
home  into  a  competitive  civilization. 
Her  work  this  far  is  secondary.  When 
her  labors  in  the  home  as  wife  and  mother 
are  considered,  joined  to  her  exertions 


in  the  labor  market,  it 
will  be  seen  that  wo- 
man, lovely  woman  !  has 
few  leisure  moments  to 
cultivate  her  charms. 
Her  wages  are  gradually 
working  up  to  a  living 
basis — she  is  constantly 
entering  new7  fields  of 
employment  and  making 
them  her  own  —  in  a 
word,  her  condition  is 
slowl}7  improving. 

When  the  statistics  are 
compiled  which  will 
demonstrate  the  part  she 
is  taking  in  all  countries  in  preventive, 
educational  and  reformatory  work  they 
will  be  of  immense  value. 

No  exhibit  could  have  been  more  timely 
or  carried  on  with  greater  wisdom  than 
has  this ;  it  shows  to  woman  at  the  most 
opportune  time  in  her  career  the  weak 
points  in  her  position,  while  the  advance 
she  has  made  along  all  lines  of  work  and 
thought,  encourage  her  to  renewed  efforts 
and  greater  bravery  in  claiming  her  right 
to  the  pecuniary  reward  of  conscientious 
labor. 


MIDWAY   PLAISANCE   WEST    FROM   TOP    OF   FERRIS    WHEEL. 


FOREIGN    FOLK    AT    THE    FAIR. 


BY  JULIAN  HAWTHORNE. 


THE  Midway  Plaisance  is  classified 
in  the  catalogues  under  the  head 
of  ethnology.  Scientific  appellations  al- 
ways have  a  chilling  sound.  They  are  to 
nature  what  the  scalpel  of  the  surgeon  is 
to  the  fair  show  of  the  human  body. 
Botany  is  a  sequel  of  murder  and  a  chron- 
icle of  the  dead.  The  application  of  dead 
languages  to  the  living  forms  of  this  real 
phantasmagory  that  exists  around  us — 
scientific  nomenclature,  in  other  words, — 
is  one  of  the  lingering  remnants  of  the 
curse  of  Babel,  and  would,  if  it  could, 
make  us  think  of  nature  as  not  less  dead 
than  itself.  Luckily,  we  are  not  to  be  so 
constrained;  and  so  long  as  children  and 
country  people  continue  to  be  born,  we 


shall  call  things  by  natural  names,  and 
always  feel  a  disposition  to  smile  at  the 
jaw-breaking  absurdities  of  the  multifa- 
rious 'ologist. 

The  lover,  as  reported  by  the  poet,  is 
always  ready  to  give  to  his  mistress  the 
world  for  her  plaything.  It  is  a  charming 
conceit,  and  every  lover  has  invented  it 
for  himself.  Yet  I  do  not  know  that  it 
has  been  ever  shown  to  be  practically 
achievable  before  the  present  summer. 
But  this  summer,  fortunate  lover,  you 
may  do  it,  and  it  need  cost  you  neither 
the  treasures  of  Croesus  nor  the  toil  of 
a  lifetime.  Fifty  cents  will  bring  the 
greater  and  essential  part  of  it  to  her  feet 
— or  her  feet  to  it;  and  for  ten  or  twenty 


568 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


times  that  sum  (the  precise  amount  has 
not  as  yet  been  finally  determined)  you 
can  endow  her  absolutely  with  the  entire 
thing.  Schopenhauer  gave  to  his  scheme 
of  creation  the  title  of  "  The 
World  as  Will  and  Idea;" 
and  I  give  to  what  the  cata- 
logue calls  "  Department  M. 
—  Ethnology.  Isolated  Ex- 
hibits —  Midway  Plaisance. 
Group  176,"  this,  I  say,  I  call 
the  "World  as  Pla}Tthing." 
Here  are  the  elements  out 
of  which  the  human  part  of 
the  planet  has  been  devel- 
oped;  it  is  all  within  the 
compass  of  a  daj-'s  stroll; 
and  everything  that  is  te- 
dious, ugly,  cruel  and  evil 
is  left  out.  There  is  nothing 
which  your  lady-love  would 
find  unsuited  to  her  play- 
thing, and  yet  there  is  no- 
thing omitted  which,  were 
she  and  you  actually  to 
make  the  tour  of  this  great 
rolling  sphere  of  earth, 
either  of  you  would  much 
care  to  see.  You  may  think 


that  I  am  forgetting  the  scenery — the 
mountains,  seas  and  valleys  of  delight; 
but  no!  For  a  matter  of  twent}--five 
cents  you  may  take  her  to  the  top  of 
the  Swiss  alps,  or  down  to  the  awful 
bottom  of  the  giant  crater  of  the  sea  of 
fire  at  Honolulu,  or  to  other  similar 
world  wonders  of  landscape,  while  all 
along  your  route  are  samples  of  the  ar- 
chitecture, inhabitants,  manners  and 
customs,  home-life  and  characteristic 
products  of  the  wild  and  civilized  races 
of  the  world.  Upon  the  whole,  it  is 
the  most  magnificent  and  satisfactory 
pla}-thing  ever  3~et  devised  for  the  de- 
lectation of  mortal  woman  or  man. 

It  extends  west  by  north  a  mile  or 
more  at  right  angles  to  the  main  west- 
ern boundary  line  of  the  park,  begin- 
ing  at  the  rear  of  the  Woman's  build- 
ing. It  has  a  width  of  some  three  hun- 
dred feet.  The  fun  begins  as  soon  as 
you  enter,  and  continues  with  increase 
all  along  the  line.  I  have  only  one 
criticism  to  make,  and  that  is,  that  it. 
should  have  been  made  circular,  as  the 
world  of  which  it  is  the  epitome  is 
spherical.  But  probably  even  Chicago 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


569 


has  its  physical  limits.  When  you  have 
been  through  it,  you  have  not  the  ad- 
vantage of  finding  yourself  where  you 
started  from ;  but  on  the  other  hand, 
you  have  to  go  through  it  again,  and  it 
is  a  journey  which,  if  you  have"  a  human 
soul  in  your  body,  and  any  reasonable 
legs,  you  are  only  too  ready  to  make,  not 
once  only,  but  again  and  again.  The 
Midway  Plaisance  could  not  take  the 
place  of  the  Fair;  but  the  Fair  would  not 
be  half  as  delightful  as  it  is  without  the 
Plaisance.  There  is  more  of  the  human 
here  than  elsewhere ;  and  the  study  of 
mankind  is  not  onl}-,  as  Pope  says,  the 
proper  study  of  man,  but  it  is  likewise 
incomparably  the  most  entertaining. 

From  the  moment  you  first  came  within 
hail  of  the  city  of  pork  and  the  Fair,  you 
have  been  catching  glimpses  of  that  semi- 
miraculous  wheel  which  uprears  its  pre- 
posterous immensity  about  halfway  down 
the  Plaisance.  It  is  not  so  tall  as  the 
Eiffel  tower,  but  it  is  all  but  half  as  tall 
as  the  Washington  monument,  and  by 
the  time  3'ou  have  been  round  its  stupen- 
dous circumference,  in  company  with  up- 
wards of  two  thousand  of  your  fellow- 
creatures,  you  are  ready  to  believe  that 


it  is  all  but  as 
big  as  the  earth. 
It  is  impossible 
for  the  non-me- 
chanical mind 
t  o  understand 
how  such  a 
Brobdingnag 
contrives  to 
keep  itself 
erect ;  it  has  no 
visible  means 
of  support- 
none  that  ap- 
pear adequate. 
The  spokes 
look  like  cob- 
webs ;  they  are 
after  the  fash- 
ion of  those  on 
the  newest 
make  of  bicy- 
cles ;  and  yet  the  vast  tires,  weighing 
thousands  of  tons,  sweep  round  their  in- 
comprehensible orbit,  as  easily  as  if  the 
attraction  of  gravitation  were  one  of  those 
moss-covered  prejudices  which  the  march 
of  progress  has  enabled  us  to  outgrow. 
When  you  get  into  your  bucket,  you  are 


* 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


bound  on  such  a  journey  as  nobody  ever 
undertook  before,  and  you  will  remember 
it,  awake  and  asleep,  as  long  as  you  live. 
I  wonder  if  any  one  of  the  millions  who 
come  within  reach  of  this  fearful  fascin- 
ation, will  resist  it !  I  don't  believe  any 
one  will,  no  matter  how  much 
they  may  fancy  otherwise 
beforehand.  For  my  part,  I 
intend  to  spend  an  entire  day 
in  the  wheel,  some  time, 
which,  at  the  rate  of  three 
revolutions  per  hour,  will  cost 
me  some  ten  dollars.  It  will 
be  worth  every  mill  of  it. 

From  the  height  of  this 
perimeter,  you  may  contem- 
plate the  whole  extent  .of  the 
Plaisance,  and  make  up  your 
mind  at  leisure  where  you 
will  go  next.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  you  have  probably 
visited  a  number  of  places 
alread}'.  Roughly  speaking, 
you  have  before  you  the  civ- 
ilized, the  half-civilized  and 
the  savage  worlds  to  choose 
from — or  rather,  to  take  one 
after  the  other.  To  my  mind, 
the  half-civilized  world  is  the 
most  delectable  ;  then  the 
savage,  and  finally  the  civil- 
ized. And  on  the  principle 
of  the  best  last,  I  counsel  all 


those  who  think  as  I  do  to  begin  with 
the  latter. 

There  is   a   beauty-show  at  the  very 
start  —  thirty  or  forty   belles    from    as 
many  different    parts   of  the   earth, 
dressed   out    in   their  several    appro- 
priate   costumes,    and  ranged  in   pens 
round    a  big  room,    like  cattle  in   a 
show.      Whether   this   be   civilized   or 
uncivilized,  I  won't  undertake  to  say  ; 
but    I    fear    that   so  far   as    beauty  is 
concerned,  unless  you  are  easily  satis- 
fied,  you  will  be  much  disappointed. 
At  least,  you  will  be  surprised.     What 
I  like  best  about  it  is  the  kilted  High- 
lander outside,  who  lures  the  passing 
public  with  the  sweet  piercingness  of 
his  bagpipes.     He  is  a  handsome  chap, 
and  quite  intelligent  enough  to  know  it. 
You   cannot  spare  your  ej-esight  at 
any  step  of  the  journey  down  this  en- 
chanted  avenue.      For  not  only   are 
there  unfamiliar  spectacles  in  the  way 
of  buildings  on  either  hand,  but  the  strange 
people  themselves  have  escaped  from  their 
proper  abiding  places,  and  are  out  walk- 
ing and  looking,  almost  as  much  interest- 
ed in  you  as  }-ou  are  in  them.     There  are 
Mussulmans  of  all  tribes,  and  Cingalese, 
and  wild  Arabs  in  their  bour- 
nouses  and   swathed    heads, 
and  Javanese  in   skirts   and 
jackets,  and  stately  Soudan- 
ese,   with    their    black    hair 
braided  in  strings,  and  dirty 
^«  white  togas  bellying  in  the 

breeze ;  and  Algerians  and 
Persians  and  unspeakable 
bashi-bazouks,  and  the  more 
familiar  figures  of  Chinese 
and  Japanese,  and  perhaps  a 
savage  Dahomeyan  or  two, 
and  Numidians  and  Nubians 
from  the  tropical  interior. 
Ever  and  anon,  as  you  pass, 
3-011  will  see  an  interested, 
craning  group  ringed  round 
some  object  of  fascination  in 
the  center,  and  if  you  peep 
over  their  heads  or  between 
their  shoulders,  j-ou  will  al- 
ways find  a  swarthy,  smiling 
face  and  a  queer  costume  in 
the  midst,  with  whom  the 
local  American  is  striving  to 
hold  converse.  Cigars  or 
cigarettes  are  given  or  ex- 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


changed,  there  is  a  dropping  fire  of  hu- 
morous remarks,  and  then  the  group 
breaks  up,  and  the  swarthy  ones  continue 
on  their  way.  The  ends  of  the  earth  are 
meeting,  and  finding  one  another  good 
fellows. 

Chicago  is  not  a  predominately  Irish 
town,  like  some  that  might  be  named  in 
this  country;  but  the  two  Irish  villages 
are  always  full  enough  of  visitors.  In 
one  of  them,  besides  studying  the  opera- 
tions of  lace-making,  bog-oak  carving, 
and  dairy  work,  as  carried  on  by  native 
Irishmen  and  women  in  cottages  which 
look  exactly  like  those  one  sees  in  the 
ould  sod,  you  may  visit  a  very  fair  repro- 
duction of  Blarney  castle,  and  try  the 
virtues  of  a  piece  of  the  genuine  Blarney 
stone.  The  other  is  mainly  devoted  to 
making  you  think  that  you  are  looking 
at  real  Irish  castles,  market  crosses,  halls, 
gardens  and  cottages;  and  in  place  of  the 
rival  Blarney  stone  on  the  other  side  of 
the  way,  is  a  practical  copy  of  the  Wish- 
ing Seat  of  the  Giant's  Causeway — though 
whether  they  have  contrived  to  import 
the  magic  of  the  original  into  the  repro- 
duction I  am  not  prepared  to  say.  There's 


nothing  good  or  ill  but  thinking  makes 
it  so. 

As  for  Germany,  she  has  left  a  broad 
mark  in  the  Plaisance  as  well  as  in  the  Fair 
proper.  Her  "village"  is  quite  as  ex- 
tensive as  many  real  villages  I  have  seen 
in  the  Vaterland,  and  has  in  it  reminders 
of  most  of  the  things,  music  and  beer  in- 
cluded, which  that  entire  amiable  and 
formidable  country  contains.  The  "  me- 
diaeval stronghold ' '  which  blocks  your 
way  at  the  beginning  with  its  towers  and 
battlements,  moats  and  drawbridge,  turns 
out  to  be  a  harmless  museum  inside,  fur- 
nished not  only  with  ancient  and  modern 
apparatus  of  war  and  hunting,  but  with  a 
waxen  emperor  and  other  German  heroes. 
Within  the  spacious  enclosure  round 
about  the  castle  walls  are  houses  of  many 
types  and  clusters  of  booths  with  workmen 
in  them.  Meanwhile,  one  or  other  of  the 
two  bands  are  thundering  in  your  ears, 
and  the  nimble  kellner  is  at  his  old  tricks 
with  mugs  and  change.  You  are  in  the 
midst  of  double  distilled  Germany,  and 
there  is  no  more  to  be  said  about  it.  In 
this  country,  and  especially  in  this  town, 
there  cannot  be  anything  very  novel  to 


572 


A   WORLD'S  FAIR. 


us  in  it;  but  it  is  cram-full  of  people  all 
the  time,  and  you  ought  to  hear  them 
cheer  the  Wacht  am  Rhein  and  other 
pieces  of  patriotism.  Like  the  rest  of  us, 
Germans  are  more  patriotic  abroad  than 
at  home. 

Austria  gets  herself  up  to  look  like  an 
older  Germany.  Her  Altmarkt  is  really 
picturesque;  it  is  a  continuous  square  of 
antique  city  houses  and  shops,  environing 
a  band-stand  and  a  beer  garden.  As  you 


sit  at  3'our  table  in  the  evening,  the  lathe 
and  plaster  buildings,  as  they  echo  back 
the  sallies  of  music,  assume  the  veritable 
aspect  of  rich  antiquity  that  you  remem- 
ber in  3'our  }-outhful  days  at  Vienna.  If 
they  would  only  engage  a  group  of  stu- 
dents with  slit  noses  and  cheeks  to  stroll 
through  the  platz,  and  pick  a  quarrel  with 
somebody,  the  illusion  would  be  complete. 
Let  us  have  done  with  Europe,  and  try 
a  cycle  of  Cathay.  Beyond  the  great 
wheel,  as  to  spatial  distance,  and  who 
can  tell  how  many  thousand  }-ears  away 
from  us  as  to  appearance,  modes  of  life 
and  traditions,  is  the  Dahomey  village. 
The  great  open  square  is  surrounded  by 
native  huts,  in  which,  besides  the  native 
furniture  that  you  might  see  in  Dahomey 
itself,  are  some  good  Chicago  cooking 
stoves,  which  cause  you  to  hang  in  space, 
as  it  were,  between  the  remote  and  the 
near.  If  it  be  near  meal  time,  you  will 
see  some  Dahomey  cooking;  the  cooks 
have  the  appearance  given  in  school  ge- 
ographies to  cannibals,  but  I  have  failed 
to  discover  signs  of  any  other  food  in 
their  tiny  kitchens  than  such  as  the  reader 
and  I  might  with  propriety  partake  of. 
When  they  are  not  cooking,  they  sit  in 
silence  and  make  things  out  of  metal, 
fiber  and  wood,  which,  being  made,  have 
a  strange  and  outlandish  aspect.  Now 
and  then  you  come  upon  a  mother  squat- 
ting in  a  corner,  suckling  her  baby,  which 
sits  upright  astride  her  knee.  There  are 
no  beauties  among  the  Dahomeyans, 


A   WORLD'S  FAIR. 


according  to  our  notions  of  that 
attribute. 

But  the  attraction  here  is  the 
dance.  A  platform  has  been 
made  in  the  center  of  the  arena, 
about  thirty  yards  square,  with*  a 
wooden  roof  or  awning  over  it. 
It  is  protected  from  the  incursions 
of  the  public  by  a  railing  ;  but 
after  looking  at  the  dance  awhile, 
you  are  not  likely  to  need  a  railing 
to  help  keep  you  out  of  reach. 
The  dancers  get  excited  present- 
ly, and  their  spears  and  hatchets 
are  very  sharp.  The  orchestra, 
members  of  which  occasionally 
are  moved  to  abandon  their  mu- 
sical instruments  for  a  turn  with 
lance  and  tomahawk,  is  massed 
at  one  end  of  the  platform  ;  at 
the  other  is  a  treble  or  quadruple 
row  of  dancers.  In  the  midst  of 
the  musicians,  on  a  sort  of  chair, 
with  a  crown  on  his  head  which 
is  made  either  of  iron,  leather  or 
copper,  I  don't  know  which,  sits  an  elderly 
and  particularly  mild-looking  savage,  as 
king.  In  the  space  between  the  two  part- 
ies, and  in  and  out  among  them,  with  an 
indifferent,  abstracted  air,  as  one  who 
bears  a  charmed  life,  and  can  regulate 
these  wild  frights  at  his  will,  saunters  the 
medicine  man,  in  a  short  projecting  petti- 
coat of  fiber,  and  an  indescribable  tackle 
of  chains  and  wallets,  all  supported  upon 


the  thinnest  possible  pair  of  legs.     When 
the  music  strikes  up — and  what  a  weird 
and  ear-splitting  racket  that   music  is, 
made  by  hammering  on  wooden  drums 
and  iron  bells,  accompanied  by  a  sort  of 
hoarse,  wrangling  noise,  with  rapid  pul- 
sations, representing  Dahomeyan  singing 
—  four  brawny  persons  appear,  and  stand 
between  the  army  and  the  orchestra,  facing 
the   former    with    gestures    of  defiance. 
Everybody  except  the  medicine-man  is 
singing  at  the  top  of  his  or  her  voice,  for 
a  third  part  of  the  warriors  are  of  the 
gentler  sex,  and  have  become  recently 
known  to  contemporary  history  under 
the  title  of  Amazons. 

The  dance  consists  of  a  rhythmical 
hopping  and  jumping,  accompanied  by 
a  peculiar  shaking  of  the  shoulders,  and 
a  brandishing  of  weapons.  The  costume 
is  simple  in  its  elements,  though  it  has  a 
rather  complex  appearance.  There  is  a 
strip  of  cloth  about  seven  feet  long,  with 
a  breadth  of  two  feet,  and  a  hole  through 
the  middle  of  it  for  the  head.  It  is  striped 
green  and  yellow.  Being  put  on,  it  is 
confined  at  the  loins  by  a  white  sash. 
This,  of  course,  leaves  the  costume  open 
at  both  sides  ;  and  it  is  the  same  for  both 
men  and  Amazons.  In  profile,  the  wear- 
ers are  practically  naked.  Their  legs  are 
bare  ;  though,  in  deference  I  presume  to 

573 


our  prejudices,  they  wear  short  drawers 
reaching  to.  the  knee.  Their  feet  and 
heads  are  also  uncovered  ;  and  what  re- 
mains of  their  gear  consists  of  necklaces, 
iron  anklets  and  armlets,  pouches  and 
suspended  objects  of  all  sorts.  They  hop 
and  whirl  about  with  surprising  vigor 
and  persistence,  and  with  evident  enjoy- 
ment to  themselves  ;  and  between  the 
pauses  of  the  dance,  they  gather 
round  the  orchestra,  and  all 
hands  converse  with  alarming  vi- 
vacity, as  if  still  thirsting  for  one 
anothers' blood.  Anon,  the  turn- 
turn  sounds  once  more,  and  the 
mimic  warfare  recommences, 
either  part}-  advancing  and  re- 
treating alternately,  and  both, 
apparently,  remaining  victors  in 
the  end. 

As  the  Javanese  village  is  not 
open  to  the  public  at  this  writing, 
I  am  unable  to  say  more  about  it 
than  that  it  looks  very  pretty 
through  the  wicker-work  fence 
which  surrounds  it,  through  the 
gate  of  which  a  crowd  of  specta- 
tors is  ever  gazing.  Huts,  which 
appear  to  be  a  kind  of  basket 


adapted  to  purposes  of  hab- 
itation in  a  land  which 
knows  not  winter,  are  ranged 
round  a  large  space  con- 
taining larger  and  more  pre- 
tentious structures ;  all  are 
thatched  with  dry  palm 
leaves,  and  amongst  them 
stroll  about  the  diminutive 
figures  of  the  Java  natives. 
They  are  no  bigger  than  so 
many  boys  and  girls.  The 
full  -  grown  women  are  ad- 
mirably shaped,  and  not 
uncomely  in  face  ;  but  they 
are  of  the  size  of  a  ten-}7ear- 
old  American  child.  In  the 
background  of  the  enclosure 
is  a  cage  with  a  big  our  an  g- 
outang  climbing  about  in  it, 
and  performing  prodigies  of 
gymnastics  with  an  effort- 
less, abstracted  air. 

The  Turkish  village— to 
take  the  first  step  upward 
from  the  unsophisticated 
children  of  nature — is  not 
fenced  in,  though  it  will 
cost  you  a  quarter  to  go  up  stairs  in  the 
restaurant  and  see  the  girls  dance,  or  to 
enter  the  theater  where  a  representation 
of  home-life  and  adventure  in  Mahom- 
medan  countries  is  given.  There  is  an 
open  street,  with  booths  along  one  side 
of  it ;  and  a  covered  bazaar,  loaded  with 
the  spoils  of  the  Sublime  Porte.  In  the 
upper  end  of  the  street  is  a  mosque,  with 
real  priests  and  religious  rites,  and 
a  minaret,  from  the  lofty  balcony 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


575 


of  which,  at  the  hours  of  sunset,  noon 
and  sunrise,  a  real  Muezzin  exhorts  the 
faithful  to  remember  Allah,  and  to  give 
him  glory.  And  the  American  populace 
gathers  beneath  and  speculates  whether 
he  is  advertising  the  dance-house  or  sell- 
ing pop-corn,  or  crying  for  somebody  to 
put  up  a  ladder  and  bring  him  down. 

In  another  building  is  an 
Arabian  tent,  and  a  facsim- 
ile of  a  house  in  Damascus. 
The  tent  is  pitched  in  the 
court  in  front  of  the  house, 
and  in  it  sit  cross-legged 
Arabs,  male  and  female,  who 
play  on  odd  instruments  and 
chant  monotonously,  while 
others  of  them  boil  coffee  or 
make  thin  wafer  cakes,  and 
bake  the  same  on  a  heated 
hemisphere  of  iron.  There 
are  no  Arabian  steeds,  and 
as  for  the  camels,  they  are 
in  the  Cairo  street.  The 
Damascus  room  —  for  there 
is  but  one  room  in  the  house 
— is  oblong  and  high,  with 
windows  just  beneath  the 
cornice.  In  the  center  is  a 
fountain,  and  on  either  side 
a  floor  slightly  raised  and 
thickly  berugged,  with  di- 
vans, and  festooned  walls, 
and  hanging  lamps,  and  or- 
naments of  dark  woods  in- 


laid with  ivory.  A 
beautiful,  luxurious, 
peaceful  place  it  is  ; 
and  a  very  well-be- 
haved and  explicit 
little  Turk  explains 
everything  to  you 
in  clear  but  quaint- 
ly intoned  English. 
In  such  a  house  lived 
people  in  one  of  the 
oldest  historical  pe- 
riods ;  and  it  is  hard 
to  see  in  what  re- 
spect we  have  sur- 
passed them  in  the 
essentials  of  comfort 
and  beauty  since. 

You  have  never 
spent  ten  cents  to 
better  purpose  than 
when  you  ex  changed 
it  for  a  ticket  admitting  you  to  the  Cairo 
street.  This  assertion  is  founded  not 
upon  my  own  opinion  alone,  but  upon 
the  testimony  of  the  crowds  who  throng 
it  every  day  ;  it  is  perhaps  the  most  pop- 
ular rallying-ground  at  the  Fair.  The 
gate  being  passed,  you  are  in  a  street 
square,  with  a  cafe  open  to  the  street  on 


A   WORLD'S  FAIR. 


the  right,   in  which  we  shall  do  well  to 
sit  down.     A  friend  of  mine  who  knows 
his  Cairo  as  well  as  I  do  my  New  York, 
tells  me  that  this  scene  is  more  like  Cairo 
than  Cairo  itself.     One  could  almost  di- 
vine that,  without  a  guarantee.     In  fact, 
only  the  walls  and  the  fashion  of  them 
are  artificial  ;  they  are  built  on  the  exact 
model  of  the  reality,  and  the  doors  and 
wooden  -  grated  windows   are  veritable 
Cairo  relics,  brought  bodily  from  that  de- 
licious city.     The  colors  are  sunny  and 
warm,  with   harmonious  blendings  of 
pale  3'ellow  and  pink  and  purple  ;  there 
are  projecting  balconies  and  airy  loggias 
and  mysterious   archways  ;  and  every- 
where are  tiny  shops,  overflowing  with 
things 3"ouwant  tobu}-.    The  shop-keep- 
ers wTant  you  to  buy  them,   too ;  and 
you  must  either  leave  your  purse  at 
home,  or  be  rich  and  reckless,  else  you 
may  have  to  leave  Chicago  on  foot.    But 
you  inevitably  turn  from  the  shops  and 
houses  to  thecrowd  in  the  street.     Right 
beneath  us,  as  we  sit,  is  the  donkey  and 
camel-stand — that  is,  the  donkeys  stand 
and  the  camels  lie  down,  in  the  peculiar 
fashion  possible  for  camels  only.    Their 
drivers,  living  pieces  of  human  Egypt, 
in  long  caftans,  fez  and  turban,  brown- 
skinned  and  black-eyed,  and  with  naked 
feet,   lounge  about,  or  lean  upon  their 
beasts,  and  let  no  possible  customer  es- 
cape them.     And  customers  are  plenty, 
ru  en ,  women  and  children .    The  donkeys 


are  very  small  and  the  camels  very  large, 
so  that  whichever  the  rider  selects,  he  or 
she  is  sure  to  be  the  object  of  attention 
to  the  laughing,  cheering,  surging,  good- 
humored  American  crowd  that  presses 
together  even'where,  and  follows  them 
on  their  course  down  the  narrow  thor- 
oughfare, or  dodges  to  escape  the  too  pre- 
cipitous onset  of  their  career.     That  fat 
man  has  just  been  almost  upset  Toy  a 
donke\-  no  bigger  than  a  Newfoundland 
dog;  and  a  camel  has  knocked  askew 
the  bonnet  of  the  deaf  old  lady  who  was 
looking  at  the  Nubian   soothsayer  on 
the  steps  of  the  fountain.     Are  we  not 
in  Egypt  indeed  ?     What  signifies  the 
mere  ground  beneath  our  feet  ?     Here 
are  the  architecture,  themerchandise,  the 
manners  and  the  populace  of  Egypt;  its 
atmosphere  is  in  our  nostrils,  its  lan- 
guage in  our  ears.     What  is  it  that  con- 
stitutes a  country  ?     "  Coelum  non  ani- 
mam  mutant  qui  trans  mare  current." 
And  we,  without  changing  our  sky,  have 
nevertheless  come  to  another  land,  and 
surely  to  one  of  the  loveliest  and  most 
charming  in  the  world.     And  we    may 
pass  through  a  score  of  others  besides 
this  in  traversing  the  little  length  of  this 
world  plaything,  the  Midway  Plaisance. 


ELECTRICITY    AT    THE    FAIR. 


BY  MORAT  HALSTEAD. 


TIPPED  with  golden  domes,  touched 
with  the  pomp  of  Asia,  in  the 
midst  of  the  White  City,  beside  the 
gleaming  waters  of  Lake  Michigan,  look- 
ing upon  the  rippling  Lagoon  and  the 
dazzling  fountains  of  the  ideal  Venice 
that  in  the  heart  of  America  is  the  radi- 
ant shell  of  the  Columbian  World's  Fair, 
one  of  the  exhalations  of  that  wonderful 
frozen  dream,  whose  exquisite  hues  and 
airs  and  lines  are  a  picture  in  which 
genius  has  been  prodigal,  and  where  are 
gathered  the  glories  and  mysteries  of  hu- 
man achievement,  rises  the  Electrical 
building,  stored  with  the  most  marvellous 
of  the  marvels  of  the  age. 

The  potentialities  and  splendors  of  elec- 
tricity were  never  before  so  exhibited  as 
under  this  picturesque  roof.  It  is  not  the 
building  alone,  stored  as  it  is  with  won- 
ders, that  is  the  chief  exhibition  of  the 
pervading  and  shining  power  that  is 
marching  from  conquest  to  conquest,  and 


ever  finding  amazing  new  worlds  to  con- 
quer, for  whether  it  is  the  crown  of  fire 
that  glitters  over  the  offices  of  adminis- 
tration ;  the  basin,  on  whose  blue  waters 
the  gondolas  seem  so  at  home,  turned 
into  a  pool  rich  with  colors  as  a  sunset 
sky;  the  magnificent  search -lights  that 
sweep  the  horizon  with  shafts  of  flame 
that  are  revealing  revelations  ;  the  lofty 
jets  on  either  side  of  the  MacMonnies 
fountains,  -converted  to  leaping  rainbows, 
glowing,  fantastical,  mystical  ;  the  swift 
and  silent  launches,  wafted  without  sail 
or  oars  or  steam,  burdened  with  people, 
through  scenes  of  enchantment  surpassing 
those  by  the  waves  of  the  Adriatic  when 
the  doges  were  wedded  to  the  sea  ;  the  in- 
tramural railway-cars  that  fly  over  elevat- 
ed roads  without  visible  means  of  locomo- 
tion, and  give  the  myriads  of  spectators 
incomparable  rapid  transit  from  the  Span- 
ish convent  to  the  Krupp  exhibit  of  artil- 
lery, and  then  to  the  clambake  and  bat- 

37 


578 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


tleship ;  or  the  haunted  corners  where 
one  talks  to  friends  a  thousand  miles  away 
and  enjoys  the  familiar  charm  of  their 
voices  and  the  magnetism  of  their  pres- 
ence— the  same  might}-,  subtle,  delicate, 
formidable  agency  and  mastery  permeates 
the  atmosphere  that  compasses  the  uni- 
verse, and  all  this  is  but  one  breath  of  the 
all-embracing  vital  air,  one  sparkle  of  the 
surf  that  is  the  boundary  of  oceans,  the 
great  deeps  beyond,  unfathomed,  but  one 
may  believe  not  unsearchable,  not  past 
finding  out,  but  holding  their  treasures 
for  the  swift  unfolding  of  the  slow  cen- 
turies. 

The  Fair,  considered  as  an  electrical 
exposition  only,  would  be  well  worthy 
the  attention  of  the  world.  Look  from 
a  distance  at  night,  upon  the  broad  spaces 
it  fills,  and  the  majestic  sweep  of  the 
searching  lights,  and  it  is  as  if  the  earth 
and  sky  were  transformed  by  the  im- 
measurable wands  of  colossal  magicians ; 
and  the  superb  dome  of  the  structure,  that 
is  the  central  jewel  of  the  display,  is 
glowing  as  if  bound  with  wreaths  of 
stars.  It  is  electricity !  When  the  whole 
casket  is  illuminated,  the  cornices  of  the 
palaces  of  the  White  City  are  defined 
with  celestial  fire.  The  waters  that  are 
at  play  leap  and  flash  with  it.  There  are 
borders  of  lamps  around  the  Lagoon.  The 
spectacle  is  more  resplendent  than  the 
capitals  of  Europe  ever  saw  when  ablaze 
with  festivals  to  celebrate  triumphant 
peace  or  victorious  war. 

It  is  all  an  electrical  exhibit.  You 
would  see  the  fronts  of  the  structures  that 
are  of  the  white  flowering  of  the  art  that 
creates,  adorns  and  captivates  at  once 
with  grace  and  magnitude  ;  and  the  elec- 
tric launch  glides  for  you  through  the 
canals  and  basins,  while  the  matchless 
panorama  seems  to  drift  by  the  winged 
boat,  an  enchanted  country,  studded 
with  fair\r  citadels.  The  energy  that 
drives  is  stored  electricity.  You  would 
ride  over  the  grounds,  where  the  sumptu- 
ous offerings  of  the  nations  are  gathered, 
looking  down  upon  the  surprising  accu- 
mulations, sweeping  around  the  enormous 
buildings  burdened  with  the  embarrass- 
ment of  riches,  and  you  ride  in  chariots 
moved  by  hidden  fire  to  do  your  bidding ; 
and  the  City  by  the  lake  where  the 
shadows  of  the  past  are  materialized,  and 
the  mellow,  balmy  winds  of  glorious 


climes  breathe  over  the  solemn  temples 
that  are  the  bloom  of  architecture  and  the 
homes  of  hope — the  castles  of  Spain,  the 
romance  of  Arabia  realized.  It  is  elec- 
tricity that  whirls  the  chariot  wheels — the 
thunderbolts  are  harnessed  at  last.  It  is 
the  same  sorcery  that  day  and  night 
tell  the  wondrous  story  b}-  telegraph  and 
telephone  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  and 
will  }'et  signal  the  stars  in  their  courses, 
that  carries  orders  and  rings  alarms  ;  that 
bids  the  nations  of  the  earth  good  evening 
and  good  morning.  There  is  a  map 
showing  the  electrical  features  at  Jackson 
park,  and  the  simple  recital  of  the  items 
shows  their  strange  variety,  and  in  how 
startling  a  degree  they  are  comprehen- 
sive. 

The  whole  electrical  service  at  the  ex- 
position comprises  these  systems :  arc 
lighting,  incandescent  lighting,  electric 
power,  telephone  service,  police  signal 
service,  fire  alarm  service,  telegraph  ser- 
vice, electric  transportation!  There  are 
many  minor  matters  with  new  applica- 
tions of  electricity.  In  1889,  in  Paris,  far 
the  greatest  of  preceding  expositions  and 
the  only  one  with  which  it  is  worth  while 
to  compare  the  Columbian  Fair,  there  was 
used  for  electric  lighting  3000  horse- 
power. There  is  devoted  in  Chicago  to 
electric  light  and  power  in  the  main 
plant  alone  17,000  horse-power,  14,000  for 
light  and  3000  for  the  transmission  of 
power.  There  is  1000  horse-power  in  ad- 
dition in  isolated  plants  and  5000  horse- 
power for  the  plant  of  the  intramural 
railway  compan}'.  The  aggregate  is  23,- 
ooo  horse-power.  The  Paris  exposition 
electric  lighting  was  furnished  by  1150 
arc  and  10,000  incandescent  lamps — about 
1,000,000  candle-power.  The  Chicago 
electrical  illumination  at  the  Fair  is  pro- 
vided by  90,000  incandescent  lights  of 
1 6  candle-power,  and  over  5000  arc  lamps 
—  a  total  of  11,400,000  candle-power. 
These  figures  are  from  original  estimates 
that  have  been  largely  exceeded.  The 
reserved  forces  brought  up  the  grand  to- 
tal capacity  of  the  electric  plant  to  5000 
arcs  of  2000  candle-power  each,  and  120,000 
incandescent  lights  of  16  candle-power, 
the  total  amounting  to  about  eight  times 
all  the  plants  at  Paris.  The  greatest 
electrical  feature  we  cannot,  however, 
compare  with  anything  in  Paris,  because 
it  is  new  ;  this  is  the  almost  exclusive 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR, 


579 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


use  of  electricity  for  the  transmission  of 
power.  There  is  an  immense  array  of 
motors.  The  electric  power  was  used  ex- 
tensively in  construction.  The  tem- 
porary power  plant,  in  the  language  of 
Mr.  R.  H.  Pierce,  "ran  day  and  night 
seven  days  in  the  week,  operating  motors 
in  the  daytime  which  furnished  power  for 
the  saw-mills,  hoists,  pumps  and  paint- 
ing machines,  and  at  night  grinding  out 
light,  so  that  the  construction  could  be 
carried  on  day  and  night  where  neces- 
sary, and  the  engineers  and  draughts- 
men could  la}*  out  work  for  other  days 
and  nights.  Electricity  helped  to  pre- 
pare the  material,  to  hoist  the  heavy 
beams  and  trusses,  to  paint  the  build- 
ings, and  at  the  same  time  to  prolong  the 
labors  of  the  overworked  engineer  and 
mechanic  and  light  the  rough  or  muddy 
pathway  of  the  Columbian  Guard." 

The  power  was  therefore  creative  as 
well  as  illustrative,  and  ready  in  rough 
work  as  well  as  brilliant  in  decoration 
and  serviceable  as  a  force.  About  one- 
third  of  the  arc  lamps  are  used  in  the 
grounds,  the  rest  in  the  buildings,  and 
Mr.  Pierce  says  :  "The  crowning  glory 
of  the  arc  lighting  is  the  lighting  of  the 
central  nave  in  Manufactures  building. 
This  is  undoubtedly  the  most  unique  and 
beautiful  piece  of  arc  lighting  ever  at- 
tempted. This  space,  which  is  about 
1300  feet  long  and  368  feet  wide,  with  a 
height  of  202  feet  in  the  clear,  is  lighted 
by  five  great  coronas.  These  coronas  are 
suspended  140  feet  from  the  floor.  The 
central  corona  is  75  feet  in  diameter  and 
carries  102  lights  ;  the  other  four,  which 
are  equally  distributed  along  the  main 
longitudinal  axis,  are  60  feet  in  diameter 
and  cam-  78  lights  each,  making  a  total 
of  414  two  thousand  candle-power  lights. 
The  lamps  are  hung  in  two  concentric 
circles." 

The  splendor  of  the  coronal  illumination 
is  remarkable.  It  is  literally  the  light 
that  never  was  before  on  sea  or  shore. 

The  Columbian  intramural  electric  rail- 
way is  a  work  that  is  intensely  suggestive 
of  a  great  hereafter.  It  gives  read}-  access 
to  the  prominent  buildings  of  the  Fair, 
and  is  the  great  resource  of  the  public  in 
quickly  and  easily  overcoming  the  difficul- 
ties of  transit  arising  unavoidably  from 
the  unparalleled  extent  of  the  grounds. 
Without  this  special  service  of  electricity 


the  fatigue  and  loss  of  time  in  moving 
from  one  attraction  to  another  would  be 
excessively  increased.  The  length  of 
the  road  is  six  and  one-quarter  miles  and 
the  round  trip  takes  three-quarters  of  an 
hour.  Fifteen  trains  of  four  open  cars, 
seating  one  hundred  passengers  to  the 
car,  are  run,  and  at  certain  points  a  speed 
of  thirty  miles  an  hour  is  permitted.  The 
first  car  of  each  train  is  provided  with 
four  motors,  developing  133  horse-power 
each,  at  twenty-five  miles  an  hour.  The 
power  plant  has  a  capacity  of  3700  kilo- 
watts. There  is  an  ability  to  handle 
16,000  passengers  in  an  hour,  and  in  a 
part  of  the  mechanism  there  is  an  appar- 
ent intelligence  that  seems  something 
superhuman.  The  track  is  equipped 
with  a  block  signal  system  and  electrici- 
ty is  used  to  release  the  block  setting  the 
signals  of  safety,  and  there  is  "  a  device 
which  throws  off  the  current  and  sets  the 
brakes  on  the  train  in  case  the  motor- 
man  runs  past  a  danger  signal,"  and 
we  are  even  told  "a  signal  out  of  order 
acts  likewise,"  and  notifies  the  motor- 
man. 

Mr.  C.  H.  Macloskie  explains  :  "  The 
current  is  carried  from  the  power  station 
to  the  trains  through  a  conductor  consist- 
ing of  a  T  rail,  supported  on  insulating 
blocks  just  outside  of  the  tracks.  Four 
sliding  shoes,  two  on  each  side  of  the  car, 
make  the  connection  with  the  conductor, 
the  current  returning  through  the  wheels 
to  the  rail,  and  thence  through  the  steel 
girders  of  the  superstructure  to  the  power 
station.  To  make  the  necessary  connec- 
tions between  girders,  large  plates  of  cop- 
per have  been  riveted  to  the  steel  with  cop- 
per rivets." 

With  such  an  exhibition  as  this,  it  is 
not  surprising  that  revolutions  in  railroad 
systems  are  believed  to  be  imminent ;  that 
all  the  splendid  apparatus  for  transporta- 
tion in  the  gigantic  locomotives  are  rea- 
sonably certain,  in  a  generation,  perhaps 
in  a  few  years,  to  be  superseded,  and  the 
machinery  that  is  the  pride  of  artisans 
thrown  aside,  as  the  stage-coaches  have 
been.  Transcontinental  electrical  rail- 
ways may  be  considered  foreshadowed. 
The  trolley  tells  the  story,  and  it  will  be 
no  more  strange  to  see  the  locomotives 
gone  to  the  scrap-iron  store,  than  the 
street  railway  horse  relegated  to  the 
farms. 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


The  adaptability  of  electricity  to  the 
service  of  man  has  a  daily  development, 
and  it  gains  incessantly  new  territories 
of  usefulness.  It  was  necessary  to  place 
lighted  buoys  for  seven  miles  along  the 
shores  of  Lake  Michigan,  from  the  Chi- 
cago river  to  the  grounds  of  the  exposi- 
tion, to  indicate  the  shoals,  and  there  are 
thirteen  spar  buoys.  Of  the  way  the  work 
was  done,  this  account  from  the  Western 
Electrician  is  of  the  greatest  interest  and 
the  largest  suggestiveness  :  '  •  Each  buoy 
•carries  an  incandescent  lampofioo  candle- 
power  in  a  wrought-iron  cage  or  lantern 
at  the  upper  end  of  the  spar,  the  lower 
end  of  which  is  fastened  to  a  heavy  cast- 
iron  anchor.  The  current  for  each  of 
these  lamps  is  supplied  from  a  small  West- 
inghouse  converter,  of  special  design, 
placed  in  the  upper  end  of  the  spar.  These 
converters  are  connected  in  series,  the  cur- 
rent for  the  entire  series  being  obtained 
from  a  special  Westinghouse  converter  of 
1400  volts.  This  large  converter  is  placed 
at  the  outer  end  of  the  main  pier  at  Jack- 
son park,  where  all  necessary  switches, 
fuses,  regulating  devices  and  Wurts  non- 
arcing  metal  lighting  arrestors  are  also 
placed.  For  this  work  a  single  wire  Bishop 


gutta-percha  submarine  cable  is  laid  from 
the  pier  to  the  first  buoy  ;  from  there  to  the 
second,  and  so  on.  From  the  last  buoy  at 
the  city  the  cable  returns  by  the  most  di- 
rect route  to  the  pier  at  Jackson  park." 

That  this  system  of  warning  lights  will 
be  adopted  for  harbors  on  the  sea-coast 
and  the  navigable  rivers  is  certain.  From 
the  height  of  each  advantage  gained  is 
seen  a  wider  area  of  opportunity. 

The  fleet  of  electric  launches,  fifty  in 
number,  each  thirty-five  feet  ten  inches 
long,  with  a  beam  of  six  feet  and  a  draft 
of  twenty-eight  inches,  and  seating  thirty 
persons,  testifies  the  motive  power  of 
stored  electricity  on  the  water.  The  speed 
of  the  boats  is  six  miles  an  hour.  They 
easily  make  eight  miles  in  that  time. 
They  run  on  the  average  forty  miles  a 
day.  The  batteries  are  grouped  in  two  or 
three  divisions.  In  each  launch  there  are 
seventy-eight  cells,  and  Mr.  C.  H.  Barne}* 
states:  "When  a  launch  returns  to  its 
dock  at  the  charging  station,  from  its 
forty  miles  run,  the  work  of  charging  is 
begun  in  less  than  one  minute  by  an  inde- 
pendent switch-board  connected  to  feeders 
from  large  dynamos  in  Machinery  hall." 
Without  burdensome  weight  the  stored 


582 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


electricity  is  used  for  a  voyage  of  twelve 
hours,  and  there  is  no  trouble  in  hand- 
ling. This  promises  almost  as  much  for 
the  navigation  of  the  rivers  and  the  sea, 
as  the  trolley  lines  for  the  land. 

Providing  electrical  machinery  has  be- 
come a  steady  and  huge  business.  There 
are  as  many  features  of  mechanism  adver- 
tised for  the  production  or  utilization  of 
electricity,  as  for  the  provision  and  appli- 
cation of  steam  power,  and  the  faculty  of 
invention  is  stimulated  in  the  highest 
intelligences  of  the  period,  to  cany  for- 
ward the  discoveries  of  the  further  secrets 
of  the  prodigious  power  that  envelopes 
the  spinning  earth. 

There  is  nothing  so  delicate  or  so  gigan- 
tic that  the  touch  of  electricity  is  not 
found  equal  to  the  task  of  manipulation. 
The  inventions  of  Edison,  that  range 
from  working  with  four  currents  on  one 
wire  to  catching  on  a  cylinder  the  music 
of  an  orchestra  or  the  performance  of  an 
opera,  are  assembled  at  Chicago,  revived 
and  improved  since  they  were  the  glories 
of  the  exposition  of  1889  in  Paris;  and 
he  has  added  other  miracles  to  his  reper- 
toire of  immortal  accomplishments,  and 


ascends  from  one  astounding  altitude  to 
others  still  higher,  until  conjecture  is 
confounded  by  his  soaring  steps.  The 
Bell  telephone  exhibition  begins  with  the 
rudimentary  instruments,  in  which  the 
first  thoughts  that  were  on  the  way  to  the 
impending  discovery  are  rudely  recorded, 
and  each  little  disc  and  filament  is  history 
to  be  read  in  living  light  forever ;  and 
there  are  the  transmitters  and  recorders 
for  the  commanders  of  ships  and  of 
armies,  and  those  that  span  for  human 
speech  the  abyss  of  space  across  the  con- 
tinent. There  are  a  thousand  details,  im- 
possible of  recitation,  and  the  imagination 
falters  in  the  footsteps  of  achievement. 
These  things  tell  for  the  ennobling  educa- 
tion of  humanity — the  diffusion  of  knowl- 
edge, the  broadening  of  the  sympathies  of 
communities — the  better  mingling  of  the 
country  and  the  town,  the  elevation  of  the 
labors,  the  expansion  of  the  ambition,  the 
illumination  of  mind  and  matter — all  one 
broad,  bright,  generous,  glorious  advance- 
ment, awakening  the  dull,  inspiring  the 
despondent,  cheering  the  broken,  arming 
the  weak  for  the  greatest  cause,  that  of 
the  common  good. 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


583 


TRANSPORTATION,    OLD    AND    NEW. 


BY  JOHN  BRISBEX  WALKER. 


AT  the  left  of  the  superb  arch  which 
gives  entrance  on  the  lagoon  to  the 
Hall  of  Transportation  is  a  relief  which 
shows  an  ox-cart,  its  cumbrous  wheels 
dragging  slowly  along  through  the  heav}T 
sand,  and  on  its  seats  the  most  uncom- 
fortable of  travellers,  who  look  upon  the 
journey  as  an  ordeal — a  forcible  picture 
of  the  discomforts  of  travel  in  ages  gone 
by.  On  the  opposite  side  of  the  arch,  in 
strongest  contrast,  is  a  luxurious  section 
of  a  palace  car,  its  occupants  reading  or 
looking  out  through  the  plate-glass  win- 
dows, an  attentive  porter  serving  their 
luncheon — in  a  word,  travel  made  a  pleas- 
ure and  a  delight. 

Higher  up  on  the  archway  are  two  in- 
scriptions, one  from  Macaulay  :  "  Of  all 
inventions,  the  alphabet  and  the  print- 
ing-press alone  excepted,  those  inven- 
tions which  abridge  distance  have  done 
the  most  for  civilization,"  and  one  from 
Lord  Bacon  :  "  There  are  three  things 
which  make  a  nation  great  and  prosper- 
ous, a  fertile  soil,  busy  workshops  and 


easy  conveyance  for  men  and  goods  from 
place  to  place."  Standing  in  the  mas- 
sive doorway  beneath  these  inscriptions, 
between  these  pictures  of  past  and  pres- 
ent, one  catches  a  glimpse  of  the  devel- 
opment of  transportation  from  the  ox- 
cart to  the  palace  car  in  ten  thousand 
exhibits.  He  is  impressed  with  the  idea 
that  just  at  the  present  time  this  question 
of  transportation  is  probably  the  most 
important  of  all  others  to  the  people  of 
the  United  States.  Neither  Bacon  nor 
Macaulay  thought  that  methods  would 
so  soon  be  invented  which  would  sur- 
pass the  wildest  dreams  of  their  days 
and  generations,  which  would  be  replete 
with  possibilities  for  human  happiness, 
but  which,  under  the  peculiar  system  of 
the  times,  would  be  used  to  enslave  com- 
merce and  almost  threaten  the  existence 
of  free  government.  They  saw  only  seeds 
of  invention  from  which  would  spring 
great  plants  of  beauty  and  riches,  but 
containing  within  the  kernel  of  the  full}' 
ripened  fruit  a  worm  which,  if  not  de- 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


585 


stroyed,  will  consume  plant  and  flower. 
What  a  wide  world  the  word  transporta- 
tion has  been  made  to  cover  under  one 
roof.  A  great  section  of  the  hull  of  one 
of  the  modern  steamships  rises  up  sixty 
or  seventy  feet  into  the  air,  significant  in 
the  strength  and  perfection  of  engineering, 
in  the  splendor  of  its  furnishings,  and  in 
the  skill  shown  in  the  construction  of  its 
parts,  of  ever}r  modern  art.  Everything 
has  been  brought  into  play  for  the  com- 
fort and  safety  of  the  ocean  traveller,  every 
device,  from  the  most  complicated  of  triple 
expansion  powers  down  to  the  tiny  electric 
are.  A  little  beyond  this  stands  the  ex- 
hibit of  another  kind  of  transportation, 
the  transportation  of  energy  through  a 
mighty  forge  hammer  from  one  of  the  great 
steel  works,  which  have  sprung  up  in  re- 
sponse to  the  needs  of  naval  construction. 
Near  by,  a  specimen  of  the  work  which 
it  forges,  a  giant  shaft,  made  to  carry  the 
power  from  the  ship's  great  engines  to 
the  mammoth  propeller.  Oh,  the  strength 
of  it !  The  mightiness  of  it !  And  yet, 
the  littleness  of  it  all !  The  story  is  told 
by  this  piece  of  crepe  on  the  mainmast 


of  this  beautiful  model  of  the  greatest 
of  modern  battleships,  this  model  which 
has  in  place  its  turrets  and  armor  seem- 
ingly so  impenetrable,  its  huge  guns,  be- 
tween decks,  lighted  up  with  tiny  electric 
lamps,  filled  with  tiny  figures  of  its  com- 
plement of  six  hundred  sailors  ;  the  Ex- 
position gallery  overlooking  it  is  crowded 
with  spectators ;  they  wear  solemn  faces 
and  speak  in  low  tones.  "How  was  it 
possible  ?  "  is  the  question  the}-  ask  of 
each  other.  The  model  at  which  they 
are  looking  is  that  of  the  Victoria,  sent 
here  as  the  pride  of  the  British  navy,  the 
perfection  of  mechanical  skill,  the  great- 
est work  of  the  greatest  naval  artisans 
of  the  world,  a  floating  fort,  which 
seemed  almost  bej-ond  the  reach  of  in- 
jury, yet  by  an  experiment — which  sud- 
denly has  placed  the  powers  of  the  ram 
infinitely  beyond  all  other  modern  de- 
structive powers  —  sent  to  the  bottom 
of  the  sea  within  a  short  quarter  of  an 
hour.  What  a  curious  transposition  of 
intentions.  This  model,  sent  to  con- 
vince the  world  of  England's  naval  pow- 
er, now  that  the  original  lies  bottom 


EARLY    LOCOMOTIVE    AND    TRAIN. 


586 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


SECTION   OF    A    GREAT   OCEAN    STEAMSHIP. 


upward  beneath  the  waters  of  the  Medi- 
terranean, serves  as  an  object  lesson  be- 
fore which  the  officers  of  all  navies  come 
to  ponder  and  determine  that  the  devel- 
opment of  naval  construction  has  been 
brought  to  a  reductio  ad  absurdum. 

Under  the  head  of  ' '  Transportation ' '  we 
find  in  one  corner  an  exhibit  of  rapid- 
firing  guns,  and  in  unhappy  juxtaposi- 
tion, the  complement  of  this — a  magnifi- 
cent vehicle  for  the  transportation  of 
bodies,  gorgeously  carved  in  ebony,  splen- 
didly panelled,  funereally  draped  with 
waving  plumes.  Near  by,  an  exhibit 
for  the  transportation  of  pleasure,  a  Rus- 
sian sleigh,  supported  on  dolphins  which 
are  exquisite  productions  of  ceramic  art, 
in  appearance  too  beautiful  and  too  frag- 
ile to  trust  beyond  the  drawing-room. 
Still  another  exhibit  combines  both 
pleasure  and  usefulness ;  these  are  long 
galleries  devoted  to  the  highway-pervad- 
ing bicycle,  the  workingman's  pleasure 


vehicle,  the  most  recent  step  in  the  prog- 
ress towards  putting  the  poor  man  upon 
an  equality  with  the  rich  man. 

And,  by  the  way,  it  is  worth  while  re- 
flecting, as  a  train  on  the  most  modern  of 
electric  roads  rumbles  by,  that  there  is  a 
steady  advance  in  this  levelling  of  dis- 
tinctions between  the  poor  and  rich.  Long 
before  his  death,  Mr.  Jay  Gould  had  seen 
the  day  when  he  could  no  longer  ride  in 
his  carriage  from  his  home  on  Fifth 
avenue  to  his  office  on  lower  Broadway. 
Invention,  utilized  by  his  hand,  had  lev- 
elled the  distinction  in  carriage  between 
himself  and  the  poorest  laborer  of  Xew 
York.  He  could  not  afford  to  spend  an 
hour  in  rattling  over  the  rough  paving- 
stones  of  Broadway,  when  with  a  min- 
ute's walk  to  an  elevated  station  he  would 
be  able  to  save  two-thirds  of  the  time,  to 
him  so  precious. 

And,  while  on  this  subject,  I  must  allow 
myself  to  be  diverted  by  another  thought. 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


587 


The  electric  railway  which  traverses  the 
length  of  the  Exposition  grounds,  is  one 
of  the  greatest  delights  of  the  entire  Expo- 
sition. Without  smoke  or  cinders,  without 
the  discomfort  of  closed  windows  in  hot 
weather,  it  swiftly  glides  over  a  well-con- 
structed roadbed,  the  breeze  fanning  the 
passenger  into  comfort  in  the  warmest 
weather,  and  the  ride  one  of  absolute 
pleasure.  It  will  be  incomprehensible  if 
Mr.  George  Gould,  after  visiting  the  Ex- 
position, and  seeing  the  perfect  and  al- 
most noiseless  working  of  this  elevated 
road,  shall  not  immediately  discard  the 
use  of  engines  upon  the  elevated  roads  in 
New  York,  no  matter  how  many  mill- 
ions may  be  tied  up  in  them.  It  is 
such  a  question  of  comfort  to  the  commu- 
nity that  its  consideration  should  not  be 
delayed.  Two-thirds  of  the  nuisance  of 
the  elevated  road  would  be  removed  for 
those  living  along  its  route.  A  ride  in  an 
open  car  from  Harlem  to  the  Battery  would 
be  preferable  to  a  carriage  ride  in  Central 
park,  and  the  cars,  which  now  travel 
without  passengers  for  many  hours  of  the 
evening,  would  be  filled  as  completely  as 
are  the  top  seats  of  the  Fifth  avenue 


omnibuses  on  a  very  hot  summer  night. 

Another  interesting  exhibit  of  trans- 
porting power,  though  not  so  distinctly 
in  evidence  as  the  elevated  railway,  is  an 
operating  model  of  an  electric  car,  with 
a  cone  -  shaped  electric  motor  at  either 
end,  resting  between  wheels  which  are 
ten  feet  in  diameter  and  steadied  by  pairs 
of  horizontal  wheels  pressing  against  third 
or  fourth  rails  for  the  sake  of  security. 
This  car  is  intended  to  cover  distance  at 
the  rate  of  from  one  hundred  to  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  miles  per  hour.  It  may  be 
merely  a  dream  of  the  inventor  at  the 
present,  but  unless  some  superior  method 
takes  its  place,  it  will  be  an  actuality 
within  a  very  few  years. 

Inasmuch  as  the  postal  service  is 
growing  more  exacting  in  its  de- 
mands for  rapid  transportation,  a  bill 
will  probably  be  introduced  into  the 
next  congress,  providing  for  the  construc- 
tion of  an  electric  service  between  New 
York  and  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  Cincinnati, 
Pittsburg,  Washington  and  Philadelphia, 
providing  for  the  construction  of  an  elec- 
tric railway,  to  be  used  exclusively  by  the 
postal  service,  upon  which  the  mails  may 


A    MODEL   RAILWAY   POST-OFFICE. 


588 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


ONE    HUNDRED    AND   TWENTY-FIVE    MILES   AN    HOUR. 


be  sent  through  at  the  rate  of  at  least 
one  hundred  miles  an  hour.  Should  it 
pass,  the  execution  of  the  plan  will  be  an 
object  lesson  in  the  governmental  control 
of  public  highways.  Should  it  not  pass, 
then  inquiries  will  be  made  in  the  course 
of  time  as  to  its  fate.  The  people  always 
wake  up  and  ask  these  questions  in  the 
course  of  time. 

Side  by  side  on  the  beautiful  canals  and 
lagoons,  which  give  access  to  ever}-  por- 
tion of  the  Exposition  grounds,  are  two 
classes  of  boats,  which  represent  almost 


the  oldest  and  the  newest  form  of  trans- 
portation. Here  the  Venetian  gondolier, 
standing  in  the  high  stern  of  his  craft,  a 
boatman  trained  by  the  centuries,  pictur- 
esque in  costume,  with  the  graciousness  of 
a  hundred  generations  of  public  service. 
But  as  he  moves  his  oar  in  long,  graceful 
sweeps  through  the  water,  there  glides 
past  him  the  most  modern  of  convey- 
ances, noiseless,  without  apparent  power, 
with  no  evidence  of  steam,  no  evidence  of 
any  human  agency,  swift,  graceful,  cleav- 
ing the  water  in  lines  that  are  scientifi- 


EVOLUTION    OF   STEAMSHIP    DIMENSIONS    BETWEEN    1840   AND    1893. 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


589 


cally  calculated  for  least  resistance.  It  is 
the  boat  par  excellence  of  the  coming 
race.  Whence  comes  its  motion  ?  It  is 
obtained  at  night,  when  it  has  been  put 
in  the  dock.  A  copper  wire  is  attached  to 
the  boat,  through  which,  during  the  hours 
of  darkness,  energy  has  been  transfused 
in  the  space  around  its  seats  and  beneath 
its  deck,  as  subtly  as  h3*podermically  in- 
jected morphine  spreads  through  the  vic- 
tim's veins.  Storage  batteries  have  taken 
up  the  energy  which  has  come  from  this 
living  wire,  and  with  the  daylight  it  is 
ready  for  man's  use.  Seventy  miles  of 
transport  at  fifteen  miles  per  hour  is 
put  away  in  these  invisible  interstices. 
When  day  comes  the  engineer,  sitting  in 
the  bow,  puts  one  hand  on  a  lever,  which 


est  periods  of  railroading.  They  stand 
side  by  side  with  the  most  magnificent 
engines  of  modern  building,  which  tower 
with  their  seven- foot  driving-wheels  above 
the  originals  like  giants.  Here  are  the  lo- 
comotive of  Stephenson,  the  locomotives 
used  on  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  in  the  early 
days,  with  their  driving  shafts  not  much 
larger  than  one  of  the  bolts  used  in  the 
modern  locomotive  ;  the  passenger  cars, 
which  were  nothing  but  stage-coaches 
built  on  iron  wheels,  and  which,  by  the 
way,  might  be  a  very  pleasant  form  of  car 
in  these  days  of  electrical  locomotion. 
Step  by  step  you  trace  the  whole  history 
of  the  locomotive  and  railroad  train  from 
their  inception  through  all  their  rapid 
development  up  to  the  present  hour. 


MODEL   OF  H.    M.    BATTLESHIP   VICTORIA. 


a  child  might  operate,  so  simple  is  its 
working,  and  another  on  a  little  pilot- 
wheel,  the  invisible  propeller  turns  rapid- 
ly xipon  its  axis  and  the  boat  is  in  mo- 
tion, forging  ahead,  slowly  backing,  turn- 
ing to  the  right  and  left,  with  a  very 
minimum  expenditure  of  human  energy. 
From  the  point  of  interest  rather  than 
usefulness,  the  objects  which  attract  the 
greatest  crowd  in  the  Transportation 
building  are  the  locomotives  of  the  earli- 


And  when  the  mind  has  fully  grasped 
the  meaning  of  this  development,  the 
thought  suddenl}'  comes  that  this  is 
the  last  exhibition  that  will  ever  be 
made,  in  all  human  probability,  of  the 
locomotive  as  a  mode  of  propulsion  for 
passenger  traffic.  At  this  exhibition  we 
see  the  most  imperfect  locomotive  in  its 
almost  tea-kettle  form,  and  we  also  see 
the  most  perfect  locomotive  that  will  ever 
be  built :  the  beginning  and  the  end  of 


590 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


stearu  railway  traffic.  Next  year,  or  the 
year  after,  or  at  most  in  eight  or  ten 
years,  steam  power  applied  directly  to  pas- 
senger trains  will  be  a  thing  of  the  past. 
And,  while  in  this  mood  of  prophesy, 
why  not  hazard  the  conjecture  that  this 
exhibition  will  also  be  the  last  at  which 
the  public  highways,  so  logically  belong- 
ing to  the  state,  will  be  found  in  the 
control  of  individuals,  using  them  for 
private  aggrandizement  ?  The  railroad, 
upon  which  the  happiness  and  prosper- 
ity of  so  many  depend,  which  is  such  a 
factor  in  the  public  safety  and  comfort 
and  in  the  production  of  wealth,  will, 
before  this  country  sees  another  exhibi- 
tion, pass  where  the  control  rightfully  be- 
longs. It  is  a  governmental  function  just 
as  truly  as  is  the  function  of  taking 
charge  of,  preparing  and  distributing  mail. 
We  may  not  have,  at  the  present  time,  a 
civil  service  equal  to  such  requirements, 
but  that  is  because  our  civil  service  has 


been  of  no  great  matter  to  the  public  in 
one  way  or  the  other.  Such  functions  of 
the  government  as  have  been  exercised 
by  the  civil  service  have  been  compar- 
atively unimportant.  But  if  we  have  a 
necessity  for  a  thoroughly  organized  and 
well-appointed  civil  service,  we  will  find 
the  way  to  organize  and  appoint  that  ser- 
vice. 

If  I  were  a  holder  of  a  great  railroad 
property  today,  I  would  be  more  anxious 
that  the  government  should  purchase  that 
property  than  the  people  could  possibly  be 
to  have  me  sell  it.  It  is  an  hour  of  change. 
No  one  can  exactly  predict  what  the  future 
contains,  and  railroad  properties,  which 
are  now  very  valuable,  which  cross  zigzag 
in  many  directions,  which  have  rolling- 
stock  worth  many  millions,  may  become 
almost  useless  under  the  demands  of  new 
engineering,  under  the  conditions  of  a 
new  invention,  under  the  possibilities  of  a 
new  science  . 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


MINES    AND    METALLURGY. 


BY  F.  J.  V.  SKIFF,   CHIEF    DEPARTMENT  OF  MINES  AND  MINING 


OF  all  the  architectural  panoramas 
that  on  many  sides  surprise  and 
delight  the  visitor  to  the  exposition,  none 
excels  the  prospect  from  the  Upper  La- 
goons. The  great  Palace  of  Mines,  with 
its  companion  structures  surrounding  the 
Court  of  Honor,  rises  at 
the  distant  southern  end 
of  the  Lagoon,  its  white 
massive  outlines  being 
thrown  into  high  relief 
amid  an  environment  of 
natural  and  artificial 
splendor. 

As  we  trace  the  details 
of  its  architecture,  there 
is  brought  to  mind  the 
long  historical  evolution 
that  has  occasioned  this 
building  and  its  exhibit. 


Imagination  carries  us  back  to  the  dawn 
of  the  metal  industries — the  bronze  age — 
and  to  the  patriarchal  times  with  their 
abundant  metals  playing  such  an  import- 
ant part  in  the  commercial  and  belliger- 
ent life  of  the  Orient.  Jew,  Venetian, 
Roman  and  Spaniard, 
impelled  by  an  insatiate 
desire  for  wealth  and 
possessions,  were  in- 
spired and  urged  on  to 
discover  and  widen  the 
world's  boundaries. 
Cornish  tin  brought  the 
culture  of  Rome  to  Great 
Britain  and  gold  to  re- 
deem the  Holy  Sepulchre 
leads  Columbus  to  search 
for  the  western  conti- 
nent. Today  are  the 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


593 


onward  tides  of  population  and  prosperity 
directed  by  a  deposit  of  coal  or  a  vein  of 
metal,  whole  armaments  of  nations  ren- 
dered useless  by  the  discovery  of  a  new 
and  more  impenetrable  alloy. 

We  seem  to  gaze  at  the  long  line  of  ex- 
hibitions that  shine  like  bright  points, 
marking  off  the  world's  progress  until  in 
the  dim  perspective  of  Charlemagne's 
time  is  shadowed  forth  the  smiths  and 
miners  of  the  Hartz  mountains,  bringing 
down  samples  of  their  pure  and  wrought 
metals  to  display  at  the  yearly  festival 
of  Frank  fort -on -the -Main — the  first  re- 
corded mining  exhibit.  One  by  one,  fairs, 
festivals,  commercial  exhibitions  and  in- 
ternational expositions  arise  in  quick  suc- 
cession—  Frankfort,  St.  Denis,  Maison 
d'Orsay,  Dublin,  London,  Vienna,  Paris, 
— in  each,  mining  and  metallurgy  per- 
forming a  continually  growing  and  im- 
portant part,  proportionate  to  the  rapid 
development  of  the  industries  themselves. 
From  the  one  solitary  class  which  com- 
prehended their  exhibit  at  the  first  great 
exhibition,  the  classification  has  expan- 
ded until  the  Columbian  Exposition  has 
devoted  to  a  generic  enumeration  in  these 
lines  no  less  than  twenty-eight  groups  and 
one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  classes,  be- 
sides conferring  on  them  the  title  of  a  de- 
partment. 

These  reflections  conduce  to  an  appreci- 
ation of  the  antiquity  of  the  theme  and 
the  fundamental  character  of  these  indus- 
tries as  factors  in  the  economies  of  na- 
tions. The  judgment  that  has  magnified 
and  honored  this  mineral  and  metallic 
wealth  with  an  elaborate  classification 
and  magnificent  architectural  covering, 
appears  amply  justified. 

Within  the  building  itself,  the  first  feat- 
ure to  attract  attention  is  the  openness  of 
the  interior  construction.  The  discerning 
genius  of  the  architect  perceived  at  once 
that  the  first  requirements  of  an  expo- 
sition building  for  exhibit  purposes  was 
simply  unencumbered  space.  He  adopted 
the  suggestion  of  the  Niagara  bridge. 
With  one-half  million  pounds  of  steel,  he 
built  up  a  series  of  cantilever  trusses  and 
overlaid  them  with  frame  and  glass,  cov- 
ering five  acres  of  practically  unobstruct- 
ed floor.  This  is  the  first  example  of  the 
application  of  this  system  to  roof  con- 
struction. The  heavy  steel  supports 
gracefully  throw  out  their  branches  and 


meet  at  the  apex  nearly  one  hundred  feet 
from   the   floor. 

From  the  broad  gallery  that  extends 
entirely  around  the  building  and  next  to 
the  wall,  is  to  be  had  the  most  attractive 
and  satisfactory  bird's-eye  view  of  the 
varied  display.  The  scene  if  anything 
repeats  and  matches  in  symmetry  and 
decoration,  the  dramatic  presentation  of 
architecture  and  landscape  without.  Here 
is  spread  out  a  fairy  city  within  a  city — 
a  creation  of  delicate  and  handsome  in- 
stallations, laid  off  in  regular  avenues 
and  boulevards,  and  set  off  with  towering 
pyramids  and  trophies,  shields,  banners 
and  streamers.  From  above  the  great 
assemblage  of  mineral  materials,  heaps  of 
ores,  bullion  stacks,  marble  and  coal 
arches,  and  ornamental  .  pavilions  that 
appear  in  such  profusion  below,  here  and 
there  a  monolith,  or  spire,  of  metal  or 
mineral  rises,  thus  relieving  any  possible 
monotony  of  level. 

The  many  individual  displays  contrib- 
uting to  make  up  this  scene  are  so  amal- 
gamated—  the  separate  members  are  so 
unified  that  they  seem  to  fuse  into  one 
great  collective  exhibit.  Yet  an  order 
and  system  of  installation  is  throughout 
clearly  visible.  The  plan  is  simple,  and, 
carefully  observed,  will  be  of  great  service 
to  the  visitor,  affording  him  a  better  com- 
prehension of  the  display  in  its  entirety 
as  well  as  in  detail.  Over  beyond  the 
main  central  avenue  of  the  building  — 
Bullion  Boulevard  —  float  the  flags  of 
German^',  Great  Britain,  France,  Spain, 
Japan  and  divers  foreign  nations,  occu- 
pying the  entire  western  portion  of  the 
floor.  A  line  of  pavilions  in  ever-varying 
styles  of  architecture  is  drawn  up  in  festal 
array  along  the  east  side  of  the  same 
avenue,  and  at  intervals  are  discernable 
the  inscriptions  or  coats  of  arms  of  our 
own  states  and  territories.  From  beneath 
the  east  gallery  comes  the  whirl  and 
clatter  of  operating  machines  and  we 
glimpse  whizzing  wheels  or  the  steady 
movement  of  running  belts  and  chains. 
Looking  about  us  in  the  gallery  a  grouping 
of  materials  as  materials  is  noticeable. 
The  minerals,  the  rocks,  the  metals,  salts, 
abrasives,  stone,  oil  and  coal,  are  here 
ranged  in  separate  colonies,  as  distinct  as 
are  the  substances  themselves.  The  two 
main  facts  of  installation,  then,  are  the 
massing  of  exhibits  according  to  geog- 

38 


594 


A   WORLD'S  FAIR. 


raphy,  as  exemplified  in  the  state  and 
foreign  sections ;  and  their  collection 
along  lines  of  essential  similarity  as  il- 
lustrated by  the  machinery  and  gallery 
groupings. 

In  order  to  prevent  confusion  in  the 
presence  of  such  an  aggregation  of  objects 
offered  for  inspection,  the  visitor  will  do 
well  to  keep  in  mind  the  particular  prin- 
ciples controlling  such  an  exhibit.  The  ex- 
position of  today  is  no  longer,  as  were  the 
fairs,  a  mere  market  for  the  exchange  of 
commodities.  The  railroad  and  the  tele- 
graph have  brought  the  bu3'er  and  seller 
into  such  intimate  communication  that 
the  purely  advertising  function  of  the 
earlier  exhibitions  is  retired.  Entertain- 
ment, recreation,  invention,  education, 
progress — these  are  the  aims  of  the  great 
modern  exposition,  and  by  superiority  in 
these  directions  its  success  is  insured. 
Let  us  now  turn  and  examine  how  far  and 
in  what  way  the  exhibit  under  study 
responds  to  these  demands. 

We  have  already  seen  how  pleasing  an 
impression  is  produced  by  a  first  glance 
over  the  ensemble  of  the  exhibit.  In  an 
exposition  like  the  Columbian,  so  lavish 
with  beauty  of  form  and  arrangement,  the 
first  thought  of  both  management  and 
exhibitor  was,  naturally,  mode  of  ex- 
pression. In  this  case,  materials  were 
abundant,  but  the  artistic  arrangement  dif- 
ficult. Yet,  on  that  artistic  presentation 
in  large  measure  depended  the  popularity 
and  success  of  the  exhibit.  The  general 
plan,  as  laid  out,  contemplated  the  free 
use  of  the  architect's  skill  and  the  taste 
of  the  decorator.  The  enthusiasm  of  the 
hour,  added  to  motives  of  national  and 
state  pride  and  of  commercial  rivalry,  led 
exhibitors  to  employ  the  most  original  as 
well  as  the  handsomest  designs. 

Our  foreign  guests,  versed  in  exposition 
practise,  have  not  been  slow  to  improve 
the  opportunity,  relying -chiefly  upon  the 
munificence  and  enterprise  of  private  ex- 
hibitors. Germany,  for  instance,  arrests 
attention  from  all  sides  by  the  magnificent 
and  imposing  iron  and  steel  trophy  ex- 
hibit of  Baron  Stumm,  a  display  made 
upon  the  personal  solicitation  of  the  em- 
peror and  at  an  outlay  of  nearl3'  $200,000. 
Pyramids  and  branching  columnsof  struct- 
ural iron  and  steel  are  built  up  to  a  height 
of  nearly  a  hundred  feet  and  assume  fig- 
ures as  bewildering  in  ramification  as  they 


are  graceful  in  outline.  An  entrance  arch 
is  surmounted  with  bronze  allegorical 
figures,  while  within  the  space  statuary 
groups  of  metal  workers  and  metal-work- 
ing appliances  form  an  ornamental  foun- 
tain. Lofty  obelisks  of  polished  beam 
and  rail  sections  stand  at  the  corners,  and 
a  rear  wall  is  the  background  upon  which 
is  worked  out,  in  mosaics  of  burnished 
blast  furnace  slags,  plans  of  the  works 
and  names  of  the  products. 

Great  Britain  and  her  colonies  occupy 
a  central  position  on  the  floor  and  present 
the  particular  metals  of  those  countries  in 
attractive  and  artistic  forms,  New  South 
Wales  outshining  the  other  colonies  in 
this  respect.  Pyramids  of  copper  ingots 
encircled  with  hoops  of  burnished  copper, 
stacks  of  tin  ingots  adorned  with  metal 
streamers  and  rosettes,  a  silvered  shaft 
with  a  base  of  silver  ores  and  topped  with 
a  stooping  Atlas  bearing  the  world,  are 
gracefully  arranged  along  the  principal 
front,  arches  of  coal  being  thrown  across 
the  rear  section  of  the  court. 

Spain,  Brazil,  Japan,  France,  and  others, 
adopt  fitting  symbols  and  characteristic 
methods  by  which  to  show  forth  their 
mineral  treasures  and  at  the  same  time 
to  heighten  the  animation  and  gayety  of' 
the  scene. 

In  all  this  entertaining  exuberance  of 
ornamentation  and  design  the  great  min- 
eral-producing states  of  the  United  States 
have  a  prominent  share.  Their  array  of 
architectural  fronts  forms,  on  the  east  side 
of  Bullion  Boulevard,  a  fa9ade  as  unique 
and  interesting  as  that  of  a  street  in  Paris 
or  Cairo.  Classic  pediments  and  col- 
umns, parapets,  arches,  and  turreted  bat- 
tlements, make  a  beautiful  and  interesting 
spectacle,  each  separate  pavilion  forming 
a  fitting  temporary  habitation  for  the  of- 
ferings of  the  states.  Nor  is  all  this  mere 
empty  and  meaningless  form,  for  every* 
marble  slab,  clay  brick,  and  tesselated 
pavement  is  material  selected  out  of  a 
great  abundance,  to  represent  the  charac- 
teristic minerals  of  the  state  exhibiting. 
In  this  way  a  monotonous  repetition  of 
mineral  riches,  either  as  heaps  of  ores  or 
in  carefully  arranged  cabinets  and  cases, 
is  avoided  and  we  are  continually  sur- 
prised and  delighted  with  the  ever  chang- 
ing pictures  of  mineral  and  metal  wealth, 
fashioned  and  embodied  in  the  most 
beautiful  and  graceful  shapes. 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


595 


The  series  commences  at  the  north  with 
Pennsylvania,  the  great  coal  producer, 
and  ends  at  the  south  with  Colorado,  the 
great  silver  producer.  The  intervening 
exhibits  are,  as  a  rule,  those  of  the  states 
that  can  assert  supremacy  in  a  particular 
line  of  production,  such,  for  instance,  as 
Michigan,  the  queen  copper  state  ;  Mis- 
souri and  Wisconsin,  the  ranking  lead 
and  zinc  producers  ;  California,  the  gold 
country  ;  and  Montana,  leading  in  the 
output  of  associated  metals — copper,  sil- 
ver and  gold. 

Where  all  have  done  superbly  well,  it 
is  somewhat  difficult  to  choose  any  single 
one  for  particular  approbation.  Ohio  has 
executed  one  of  the  most  striking  exam- 
ples of  mineral  architecture.  An  entrance 
arch,  with  the  inscription  "Ohio"  in 
fancy  tiles,  as  well  as  the  bays  on  either 
side,  with  their  copings  and  columns,  are 
constructed  of  a  variety  of  Ohio  building 
and  ornamental  stones,  enameled  brick, 
and  mosaic  tile.  These  different  mate- 
rials represent  the  contributions  and  ex- 
hibits of  many  individuals,  corporations 
and  counties. 

Kentucky,  her  neighbor,  receives  vis- 
itors through  a  castellated  entrance  of  can- 
nel  coal.  The  conchoidal  fracture  of  the 
facing  gives  it  a  glistening  appearance, 
which,  with  the  murky  color  of  the  mate- 
rial, makes  this  turreted  front  one  of  the 
most  conspicuous  objects  in  the  building. 

The  columnated  arches  of  California 
are  faced  with  polished  marbles  of  white, 
green  and  gray,  pure,  necked  and  mot- 
tled, and  are  surmounted  with  two  gilded 
bears,  symbols  of  the  state.  Michigan's 
exhibit  is  reached  through  a  massive  en- 
trance of  red  Lake  Superior  sandstone, 
decorated  with  a  border  of  little  Brownie 
miners  and  capped  with  a  statuary  group 
representing  the  coat  of  arms  of  the  state. 
A  parapet  of  the  same  material  marks  the 
boundaries  and  harmonizes  well  with  the 
shiny  colors  of  copper  to  be  seen  on  all 
sides  within  the  court.  Wisconsin  has 
set  a  monolith  at  each  corner  of  her  space 
— huge  needles  of  sandstone  quarried  in 
single  pieces — and  adorns  the  interior 
with  a  glittering  crystal  and  mineral 
fountain.  Each  stone  in  the  arch  of 
Minnesota  bears,  worked  in  gilded  letter- 
ing, the  name  of  the  quarry  or  the  forma- 
tion from  which  derived. 

Did  space  allow,  a  description  would  be 


in  order  of  the  elaborate  details  of  the 
pavilions  of  other  states,  Pennsylvania, 
West  Virginia,  New  York,  Missouri, 
South  Dakota,  Idaho,  Montana,  Colorado, 
North  Carolina,  Wyoming,  Washington, 
New  Mexico  or  of  Utah.  Suffice  it  to  say 
that  in  all,  the  fine  arts  have  brought  out 
in  varied  lights  the  surprising  adaptabil- 
ity of  common  minerals  to  the  highest 
artistic  ends,  and  in  a  way  that  gratifies 
the  senses  of  the  beholder. 

The  exposition  manager,  both  local  and 
general,  must  of  necessity  be  something 
of  a  showman.  Although  his  work  is 
laid  out  along  scientific  lines  and  the 
tastes  of  diverse  classes  are  to  be  consid- 
ered, he  has  the  responsibility  of  a  world 
to  entertain.  And  he  can  only  expect  to 
reach  the  great  majority  by  means  of  his 
"special  attractions,"  by  exhibits  that 
will  hold  the  interest  of  the  multitude. 
In  the  exposition  itinerary,  such  exhibits 
are  like  the  art  galleries  and  museums  of 
a  European  tour,  the  objects  of  special 
pilgrimages.  They  form  retaining  points 
in  the  mind  of  the  hurried  visitor  and 
from  them  he  gains  his  impressions  and 
makes  his  estimates  of  the  entire  display. 
Reference  may  be  made  to  many. 

The  diamond-washing  and  cutting  ex- 
hibit is  probably  the  principal  center  of  at- 
traction in  the  Mining  building.  Through 
the  glass  windows  enclosing  the  Cape 
Colony  space,  the  interested  spectator  can 
watch  the  blue  diamond  -  bearing  earth 
crushed  and  pulverized  and  the  pebbles 
washed  out  and  sorted  with  the  actual 
machines  em  ployed  at  the  great  Kimberley 
diggings  of  South  Africa,  where  twenty 
years  ago  the  Boer  settler  farmed  in  peace. 
The  machines  are  operated  by  native  Zu- 
lus, imported  for  the  purpose.  Togged 
out  in  their  holiday  attire  with  beads  and 
feathers,  and  leaning  on  club  or  spear, 
they  give  a  vivid  impression  of  social  life 
as  it  exists  in  and  near  the  diamond  dig- 
gings. The  rough  diamonds  are  handed 
over  to  the  lapidarist  in  another  room, 
who  passes  them  through  several  differ- 
ent stages  of  grinding  and  polishing, 
deftl}*,  but  gradually,  gives  a  touch  here 
and  there,  and  holds  them  up  a  perfect 
gem  sparkling  in  the  sunlight. 

Upon  the  main  central  court,  Great 
Britain  has  a  collection  of  rare  metals  and 
the  salts  of  rare  metals  valued  at  $85,000, 
one  block  of  pure  palladium  alone  repre- 


596 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


senting  $35,000.  An  ingot  of  pure  plat- 
inum first  exhibited  at  the  International 
exhibition  of  1862,  is  valued  at  $28,000, 
and  is  not  exceedingly  large  either.  Plat- 
inum, indium,  osmium,  ruthenium,  crys- 
talline silicon  and  boron,  together  with  a 
model  of  the  first  platinum  vessel  used  in 
the  concentration  of  sulphuric  acid  and 
an  entire  gold-plated  platinum  plant  for 
the  same  manufacture  go  to  make  up  a 
display  of  great  costliness. 

The  most  notable  display  in  precious 
metals  is  the  renowned  Montana  statue, 
"Justice,"  cast  in  solid  silver,  worth  $61, 
800,  and  resting  on  a  plinth  of  solid  gold 
representing  $230,000.  Several  valuable 
gold  collections  are  to  be  seen  in  different 
portions  of  the  building.  In  the  New 
South  Wales  court,  mounted  on  plush, 
are  a  series  of  nuggets  and  alluvial  golds 
valued  at  $35,000.  A  big  mass  of  gold, 
called  the  "  Maitland  Bar  Nugget,"  con- 
tains over  three  hundred  and  thirteen 
ounces  and  is  appraised  at  $6000.  Col- 
orado's chief  attraction  is  the  gold  display 
arranged  in  cases  about  the  marble  col- 
umn in  the  center  of  the  court.  Twenty 
thousand  dollars  in  the  finest  specimens 
of  crystallized  golds,  the  rarest  and  most 
beautiful  forms  of  flake,  leaf,  and  wire 
gold  found  during  the  last  year  in  the 
Breckenridge  region,  are  here  on  exhi- 
bition. 

The  largest  and  most  complete  exhibit 
of  nickel  ever  made  is  to  be  found  in  the 
Ontario  space.  Upon  a  base  of  heavy 
masses  of  pyrrhotite  and  other  nickel  ores 
rest  the  cone-shaped  concentrate,  or  nickel 
matte,  surmounted  in  turn  by  a  huge 
ingot  of  nickel  containing  several  thou- 
sand dollars  worth  of  the  pure  metal. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  and  valu- 
able collections  of  gems  and  semi- 
precious stones  is  that  made  by  Mr. 
George  F.  Kunz,  the  author  of  the  au- 
thoritative work  Gems  and  Precious 
Stones.  His  brilliant  exhibit  contains 
amazon  stones,  noble  opals,  amethysts  in 
geodes,  hydrophanes  or  mad-stones,  sec- 
tionized  and  polished  jades  and  agates, 
quartz,  a  tiger' s-eye  ball  four  inches  in  di- 
ameter, a  collection  of  cones,  flakes  and 
chips  of  obsidian  illustrating  the  ancient 
method  of  making  spear  and  arrow  points, 
and  a  great  variety  of  gems,  antiques  and 
curios,  together  with  a  set  of  illustrated 
works  of  ancient  writers  on  gems. 


The  diamonds,  sapphires,  emeralds, 
opals,  amethj'sts,  garnets  and  topaz  of 
New  South  Wales,  and  the  sapphires,  ori- 
ental emeralds,  garnets,  quartz  of  differ- 
ent colors,  sagenites,  beryls,  spinels  and 
other  gems  both  cut  and  uncut  of  North 
Carolina  are  among  the  other  large  and 
fascinating  displays.  Much  in  public 
favor  are  the  cases  in  the  Wisconsin  sec- 
tion filled  with  lustrous  round  and  pear- 
drop  pearls  from  the  streams  of  the  Badger 
state.  The  colors  are  the  richest  shades 
of  white,  pink,  lavender  and  blue  and 
some  of  the  little  satiny  beads  are  held  at 
as  high  as  $5000. 

The  great  copper  mining  companies  of 
Arizona  have  in  that  territory's  space  an 
assortment  of  variegated  ores  of  copper, 
that  vie  in  color  with  the  transformations 
of  the  kaleidoscope.  Surrounding  the 
massive  piece  of  azurite  streaked  with 
green  malachite  that  forms  the  central 
trophy  are  pictures  and  symphonies  in 
blue,  green  and  silvered  plush  and  satin 
mineral  surfaces.  Polished  sections  of 
agatized  wood  and  a  thousand  and  one 
showy  specimens  make  this  exhibit  as 
typical  and  beautiful  a  mineral  display  as 
can  be  found  in  the  building.  The  min- 
eral-covered miner's  cabin  of  New  Mexico 
with  the  accompanying  life-sized  figures 
of  prospector  and  burro,  takes  one  back  to 
the  slopes  of  the  mountain  and  vividly 
calls  to  mind  the  natural  grandeur  of  the 
landscapes  that  form  a  setting  for  these 
interesting  types  of  mountain  mining  life. 

The  entire  north  gallery  has  been 
sumptuously  furnished  by  the  Standard 
Oil  compan}-,  which  here  has  probably 
the  most  complete  and  extensive  presen- 
tation of  the  petroleum  industry  ever 
made.  In  elaborate  cases  and  cabinets 
are  to  be  seen  glass  jars  of  uniform  size 
filled  with  different  grades  of  crude  and 
refined  petroleums,  from  the  heavy  black 
to  the  pure  white;  the  series  embracing 
every  quality  known  to  the  industry.  An 
interesting  collection  of  all  the  bi-products, 
such  as  candles,  gums  and  waxes,  salves 
and  ointments,  form  an  interesting  feature 
of  the  display ;  also  models  of  pipe  lines 
and  refineries  illustrating  the  drilling, 
transportation  and  refining  of  oil.  An 
operating  model  of  the  greatest  coke  es- 
tablishment in  the  world,  that  in  the  Con- 
nelsville  region,  is  shown  by  the  H.  C. 
Frick  Coke  company.  It  exhibits  in  de- 


A   WORLD'S  FAIR. 


597 


tail  the  different  steps  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  this  material  so  necessary  to  mod- 
ern metallurgy.  Many  other  special  at- 
tractions could  well  be  cited ;  the  evapora- 
tion of  salt  as  carried  on  in  the  Ohio  sec- 
tion; Oregon's  exhibit  in  miniature  of 
hydraulic  mining;  the  preparation  of 
Chilian  nitrates;  and  panoramas  of  famous 
mineral  springs.  These  with  what  have 
been  already  enumerated,  form  a  list  of 
attractive  features  that  the  most  casual 
observer  desires  to  see  and  that  well  repay 
visitation. 

But  the  mining  exhibit  has  a  higher 
mission  than  simply  to  draw  up  the  states 
and  nations  in  dress  parade  and  furnish  a 
novel  entertainment  for  the  multitude. 
To  carry  out  the  modern  exposition  idea 
it  must  also  aim  to  educate,  to  impart  and 
disseminate  knowledge.  It  calls  upon 
science,  art  and  industry  for  suggestions, 
ideas  and  facts  that  shall  bring  about  a 
better  understanding  of  the  inorganic  side 
of  nature's  domain.  State  pride  and  com- 
mercial rivalry  have  adopted  ornamenta- 
tion simply  as  a  species  of  advertisement 
to  tell  the  capitalist  where  to  invest  and 
the  emigrant  where  to  settle;  to  inform  the 
miner  as  to  what  can  be  cheaply  and 
easily  produced,  and  to  enable  the  manu- 
facturer to  discover  new  materials  for  new 
uses.  In  this  way  the  great  facts  of  eco- 
nomic importance  in  the  mineral  world  are 
brought  out  with  the  greatest  distinctness. 
Samples  and  specimens  tell  but  half  the 
tale.  They  become  exhibits,  and  only 
gain  their  principal  value  to  the  practical 
commercial  man  when  they  carry  detailed 
information  as  to  geological  and  geo- 
graphical locality,  cost  of  production,  fa- 
cilities for  transportion,  and  adaptability 
to  special  manufacture. 

The  motive  leading  the  foreign  coun- 
tries to  participate  at  the  exposition  was 
in  the  first  place,  of  course,  the  commer- 
cial one.  Each  one  had  necessarily  to 
maintain  its  rank  in  the  industrial  world, 
and  the  exposition  afforded  a  battlefield 
upon  which,  at  the  time  set,  was  to  be 
fought  out  and  settled  future  commercial 
supremacj-.  With  such  a  .stimulus  it  is 
natural  that  the  desire  to  set  forth  pro- 
ducts and  commercial  advantages  in  the 
completes!  manner  should  be  paramount. 

Nor  was  this  battle  beneath  the  dignity 
of  emperors  and  presidents,  for  the  ex- 
hibits of  Germany,  Austria,  France,  Mex- 


ico, Spain  and  Japan  represent  the  active 
supervision  of  foreign  governments  and 
the  personal  enterprise  of  potentates. 

In  the  state  pavilions  the  concentration 
of  the  representative  minerals  of  thou- 
sands of  square  miles  into  an  area  of  com- 
paratively a  few  square  feet  cannot  help 
but  form  in  the  minds  of  both  the  public 
and  the  professional  miner,  a  better  com- 
prehension of  the  mineral  productiveness 
and  commercial  activity  of  each  state  ex- 
hibiting. The  West  has  a  story  to  tell  of 
the  opening  up  of  new  fields  of  wealth 
and  hopes  to  secure  the  financial  aid  of 
interested  investors.  The  "  New  "  South 
exposes  maps  and  information  proving 
her  boundless  but  undeveloped  mineral 
belts,  and  is  eager  to  turn  the  tide  in  her 
direction.  The  stable  East  brings  the 
mineral  and  metal  products  it  confidently 
intends  to  introduce  into  wider  and  more 
profitable  markets. 

In  the  group  exhibits  the  commercial 
enterprise  of  competing  firms  has  organ- 
ized valuable  instructive  features.  The 
application  of  the  mechanic's  skill  to  the 
mineral  extractive  industries,  as  epito- 
mized in  the  mining  machinery  section, 
furnishes  a  serviceable  object  lesson  in 
mine  engineering.  The  new  coal  cutting 
and  drilling  machines,  the  improved  auto- 
matic hoists  and  patent  breakers  explain 
how  fuel  is  cheapened  and  how  the  exten- 
sion of  iron  producing  regions  is  made 
possible.  Improved  stamp  mills,  roast- 
ing furnaces,  and  other  apparatus  for  the 
mechanical,  chemical  or  electrolytic  re- 
duction of  the  metals  illustrate  the  metal- 
lurgical factors  that  revive  languishing 
regions. 

In  other  groups  the  advertisement  is 
secured  by  enlargement  upon  the  histor- 
ical and  evolutionary  sides,  or  by  exhibit- 
ing the  successive  stages  in  the  processes 
of  extraction  and  manufacture.  The  orig- 
inal converter  first  used,  by  Kelly  the  in- 
ventor, for  the  manufacture  of  Bessemer 
steel  is  the  introduction  to  a  display  of 
iron  and  steel  ;  the  first  kit  of  tools  used 
in  drilling  for  oil,  brings  to  notice  a  large 
well  supply  exhibit.  The  singular  but 
important  use  of  asbestos  as  an  incom- 
bustible fabric  is  called  to  public  attention 
by  operating  machines  that  take  the  crude 
rock  fiber  through  the  processes  of  sepa- 
ration, carding,  spinning  and  weaving, 
and  produce  a  theater  curtain.  An  as- 


598 


A   WORLD'S  FAIR. 


phalt  firm  endeavors  to  enlarge  its  busi- 
ness by  showing  in  map  and  model,  the 
natural  sources  of  supply,  mode  of  man- 
ufacture, and  usage  in  the  construction 
of  roofs,  conduits  and  boulevards. 

The  Mining  building  is  indeed  a  hall  of 
science,  scientific  methods  and  scientific 
appointments  being  everywhere  apparent. 
The  entire  display  is  an  exemplar  of  ap- 
plied geology,  mineralogy,  lithology,  of 
chemistr}',  physics,  metallurgy  and  engi- 
neering. It  is  the  great  Columbian  school 
of  minerals,  mining  and  metallurgy.  The 
scholar  finds  it  a  technical  museum,  re- 
plete with  the  choicest  illustrative  speci- 
mens. In  fact,  the  maps,  reliefs,  dia- 
grams, models,  systematic  rock  and  min- 
eral collections  and  statistics  here  pre- 
sented probably  exceed  in  both  quantity 
and  variety  the  equipment  of  the  largest 
scientific  schools  and  colleges. 

In  the  collection  and  arrangement  of 
the  state  displays  the  different  geological 
surveys  had  a  leading  part.  The  survey 
of  Pennsylvania,  Missouri,  New  Jersey 
and  North  Carolina,  by  map,  chart  and 
relief  model,  outline  superficially  and  in 
depth  the  limits  of  vast  deposits  of  lead, 
zinc,  coal,  iron  or  precious  minerals  as 
the  case  may  be,  and  illustrate  strati- 
graphical  evolution  by  sets  of  specimens. 
New  York  has  built  up  at  her  entrance  a 
geological  monument,  showing  to  scale 
with  actual  specimens,  the  successive 
strata  underlying  the  state,  from  the  low- 
est archaean  to  the  most  recent  formation. 
Colorado's  geological  history  is  told  by 
separate  maps  of  different  periods  each 
age  having  its  corresponding  record  of 
rock  series.  The  United  States  Geological 
Survey,  at  the  north  entrance,  has  erected 
a  pyramid  of  minerals  and  metals  show- 
ing in  succession  from  coal  to  gems 
the  average  amount  produced  in  the 
United  States  every  second. 

The  length  of  the  American  section 
itself  constitutes  a  lesson  in  national  ge- 
ology. At  one  end  the  iron  and  coal  of 
the  Appalachian  chain  is  exhibited  by 
Pennsylvania,  West  Virginia  and  New 
York;  at  the  other  the  great  mineral  states 
of  the  Rockies  show  the  metals  extracted 
from  the  mountainous  backbone  of  the 
contin  ent ;  whil  e  i  n  termediate  are  arran  ged 
the  salts,  clays  and  stone  of  the  states  of 
the  great  interior  basin.  The  result  is  a 
quick  contrast  between  the  products  of 


igneous  action  and  those  of  sedimentation. 

Germany  occupies  a  large  space  with  a 
united  exhibit  of  its  ro\7al  mining  bureaus 
and  technical  academies,  and  presents 
graphically  and  by  model,  the  modern 
methods  of  coal  and  metal  mining, 
schemes  of  metallurgical  reduction,  as 
well  as  the  magnificent  detail  work  of  her 
geological  surveys.  This  superb  techni- 
cal exhibit  reveals  the  intimate  and  im- 
portant relation  sustained  by  the  scientific 
and  engineering  professions  to  the  min- 
eral industries  in  the  German  empire  and 
also  affords  a  good  idea  of  the  advanced 
state  of  technical  science  in  that  county. 

The  geology  of  France,  New  South 
Wales,  Spain,  Brazil  and  Mexico  is  inter- 
preted by  means  of  characteristic  fossil 
and  rock  collections  and  by  extensive 
wall  maps.  The  Dominion  of  Canada  has 
brought  a  large  part  of  its  Ottawa  museum 
in  order  to  demonstrate  the  structure  and 
mineral  possibilities  of  the  great  territory 
under  its  jurisdiction.  The  Imperial  geo- 
logical survey  of  Japan  surprises  the  occi- 
dental scientist  with  the  completeness  of 
its  geological  maps.  The  different  recon- 
naissances, published  bothin  Japaneseand 
English  and  framed  in  bamboo,  show  the 
scientific  proficiency  of  this  progressive 
people. 

Geographic  distribution,  however,  occa- 
sions too  wide  dispersion  of  certain  min- 
erals and  mineral  materials  and  dissipates 
or  obscures  the  scientific  knowledge  and 
information  yielded  b)r  a  united  or  collect- 
ive exhibit.  The  department  itself  there- 
fore has  collected  and  grouped  in  the  gal- 
lery a  series  of  case  and  cabinet  national 
displa37s  accompanied  by  general  data  of 
widespread  interest  and  value.  In  this 
way  have  been  formed  a  technical  miner- 
alogical  collection,  a  series  of  the  salts 
and  mineral  waters  of  the  United  States, 
and  a  cube  exhibit  of  building  and  orna- 
mental stone  from  the  principal  quarries. 

A  large  plate  glass  map  shown  in  con- 
junction with  the  technical  display  of 
the  coals  of  the  United  States  determines 
by  numbered  cross  reference  the  exact 
source  of  each  coal  specimen.  The  four 
hundred  and  fifty  samples  represent  every 
field  and  carry  careful  analyses  by  the  de- 
partment chemist.  The  departmental  as- 
say laboratory  in  addition  to  this  work 
carries  on  regular  determinations  of  ores 
and  is  in  itself  an  interesting  exhibit. 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


599 


An  extensive  metallurgical  display  ex- 
hibits the  ores,  the  extraction  samples, 
and  the  products  of  each  metal  used  in 
the  arts.  Of  particular  interest  to  the 
visitor  are  the  aluminum  processes  and 
specimens,  the  metallurgy  of  nickel,  and 
the  electrolytic  refining  of  copper.  Many 
processes  are  here  shown  for  the  first  time, 
such  as  the  desilverization  of  base  bullion, 
the  tempering  of  copper  (hitherto  reckoned 
one  of  the  lost  arts)  the  complete  series  of 
gold  and  silver  alloys  and  electroplating 
with  iridium. 

The  history  of  mining  and  metallurgy 
is  the  theme  of  a  long  line  of  transparen- 
cies suspended  before  the  gallery  windows. 
These  plates  are  reproduced  from  the 
works  of  ancient  writers  on  these  subjects 
and,  beginning  with  the  divining  rod  of 
the  ancient  prospector,  illustrate  the  pe- 
culiar mining  and  metallurgical  applian- 
ces and  methods  of  primitive  times. 

A  library  of  from  five  to  six  thousand 
volumes  on  mining,  metallurgy,  miner- 
alogy, geology,  and  allied* arts  and  sci- 
ences, together  with  a  reading-room  where 


technical  periodicals  and  journals  are  on 
file,  cover  the  literature  of  the  industries. 
We  have  now  passed  in  review  the  mul- 
tifarious exhibit  of  the  Mining  building. 
The  higher  requirements  of  the  modern 
exposition  as  unfolded  in  this  exhibit  has 
in  some  degree  been  investigated.  Its 
harmony  with  the  refined  artistic  stand- 
ards of  the  whole  exposition,  its  overtures 
to  entertainment  and  recreation,  and  its 
function  as  an  educator  in  the  science  and 
technology  of  the  industries  on  exhibi- 
tion, are  unmistakably  marked.  To  what 
degree  it  will  stimulate  research  and  inven- 
tion, or  what  may  be  its  permanent  influ- 
ence upon  progress  and  civilization,  can- 
not at  this  early  time  be  predicted.  It 
stands  as  the  materialization  and  conclu- 
sion of  the  congressional  enactment  that 
provided  for  the  exhibition  of  the  ' '  prod- 
ucts of  the  soil,  mine  and  sea,"  and  let  us 
hope  that  the  effectiveness  and  dignity 
with  which  the  Columbian  mining  and 
metallurgical  display  has  discharged  this 
responsibility  may  make  it  a  prototype 
for  many  future  international  expositions. 


CHICAGO'S   ENTERTAINMENT   OF  DISTINGUISHED   VISITORS. 


BY  HOBART  C.  CHATFIELD-TAYLOR. 


WITH  the  dedication  ceremonies  of 
the  World's  Columbian  exposi- 
tion in  last  October  young  Chicago  made 
her  debut  in  the  society  of  the  world. 
Previous  to  that  time  she  had  been  looked 
upon  as  a  vigorous — though  somewhat 
uncouth  —  exponent  of  western  energy, 
whose  efforts  were  characterized  by  the 
boisterousness  of  untrammelled  youth 
rather  than  by  the  repose  and  grace  of 
well-bred  maturity.  In  October  she  ap- 
peared to  the  world  as  its  hostess,  and 
by  her  dignified  performance  of  the  ardu- 
ous duties  the  occasion  demanded  she 
won  the  admiration  of  her  guests  and 
demonstrated  her  almost  inherent  knowl- 
edge of  social  amenities. 

Society,  in  its  expansive  sense,  is  such 
a  generous  term  that,  when  a  city  becomes 
the  hostess  of  the  world,  there  must,  of 
necessity,  be  many  centre  temps  which 
would  not  characterize  an  exclusive  May- 
fair  drawing-room  ;  but  in  the  entertain- 
ment of  Chicago's  guests  in  last  October 
there  was  a  lack  of  ostentation,  and  a  dig- 
nity which  were  truly  gratifying  to  every 
Chicagoan.  There  were  no  social  feuds 
among  the  entertainers,  no  struggles  for 
supremacy  ;  and  each  Chicagoan  to  whom 
a  duty  was  allotted  went  to  work  with  a 
will  which  ensured  its  successful  per- 
formance. 

Fortunately  for  Chicago,  the  city  is  too 
young  to  maintain  an  exclusive  aristoc- 
racy, holding  aloof  from  its  neighbors,  and 
viewing  their  efforts  with  the  disdainful 
mistrust  the  world  calls  snobbishness. 
There  are,  of  course,  sets  and  cliques  in 
Chicago  society ;  there  are,  of  course, 
men  of  the  world,  and  men  of  the  West 
only  ;  but  these  cliques  and  sets  are  owing 
rather  to  the  gregariousness  of  man's 
nature  and  the  principle  of  natural  selec- 
tion than  to  any  apparent  attempt  to  create 
class  distinctions.  The  best  proof  of  this 
lies  in  the  fact  that  in  any  public  enter- 
tainment the  people  of  all  sets  work  side 
by  side  for  the  credit  of  the  city,  desirous 
only  of  enhancing  the  reputation  of  their 
beloved  Chicago.  I  say  beloved,  because 
Chicagoans  do  love  their  city.  It  is  not 
an  heritage  that  has  come  to  them  from  a 


vague  and  distant  past.  It  is  their  own 
creation  ;  it  is  the  result  of  their  own  ef- 
forts ;  it  is  part  of  themselves,  and  if,  at 
times,  they  permit  the  exuberance  of  their 
satisfaction  to  bubble  forth,  the  world 
should  smile  good-naturedly  and  pardon 
them,  as  it  does  boisterous  college  boys 
after  a  well- won  race. 

In  the  entertainment  of  its  guests, 
Chicago  was  imbued  with  true  western 
hospitality  and  a  desire  to  show  herself  a 
citizen  of  the  world.  Like  a  newly-created 
ambassador  presenting  his  credentials  at 
a  foreign  court,  she  was  for  the  first  time 
appearing  before  the  world  as  a  metrop- 
olis, representing  a  new  civilization.  Her 
guests,  the  representatives  of  all  the  na- 
tions of  the  world,  were  her  critics.  For 
the  first  time  in  the  city's  history,  the 
vice-president  of  the  United  States,  the 
cabinet,  the  diplomatic  corps,  and  com- 
missioners of  foreign  countries,  the  su- 
preme court,  senate,  house  of  represent- 
atives, and  the  governors  of  over  thirty 
states,  gathered  in  Chicago,  to  accept  her 
hospitality  and,  in  the  case  of  most  of 
them,  to  form  their  first  impression  of 
their  hostess.  What  those  impressions 
were,  except  when  favorable,  cannot  be 
said,  for  the  guests  whose  opinions  might 
be  valuable  refrained  from  public  crit- 
icism and  confined  their  expressions  to 
compliments  most  generously  bestowed. 
It  is  the  hope,  however,  of  all  Chicagoans 
that  they  carried  back  to  their  respective 
countries  and  homes  at  least  a  favorable 
impression  of  the  young  western  de- 
butante, who  had  just  made  her  bow  in 
the  society  of  the  world. 

During  May  and  June  the  city  was 
called  upon  to  entertain  the  nation's 
guests :  the  Infantes  Eulalia  and  An- 
tonio of  Spain  and  the  Duke  of  Ve- 
ragua.  The  distinguished  descendant  of 
America's  discoverer  remained  in  the 
city  long  enough  to  cast  aside  the  con- 
strained cloak  of  officialism  and  mingle 
with  the  people.  His  familiar  face  was 
to  be  seen  in  every  drawing-room.  He 
met  his  friends  on  a  footing  of  democratic 
equality,  and  after  the  official  ceremonies 
in  connection  with  the  opening  of  the  ex- 


A   WORLD'S  FAIR. 


601 


position,  he  came  and  went  like  a  citizen 
of  the  city,  respected  and  liked,  but  re- 
ceiving no  more  attention  than  would  be 
accorded  to  a  most  distinguished  citizen 
of  our  own  country. 

In  the  case  of  the  Infanta  Eulalia  it 
was  different.  She  was  royalty,  and  the 
glamor  surrounding  that  name  seems  to 
have  affected,  in  a  great  measure,  people 
and  press  alike.  Fortunately,  the  ridicu- 
lous subservience  with  which  she  was 
sometimes  treated,  was  not  confined  to 
Chicago,  and  it  may  be  that  the  western 
metropolis  was  too  timid  to  assert  its  own 
democratic  spirit.  Unfortunately,  this 
royal  princess  was  abused  and  even  slan- 
dered because  she  was  courageous  enough 
to  assert  her  independence.  She  showed 
a  marked  distaste  for  ceremonies,  and 
while  visiting  the  exposition  she  preferred 
a  wheel  chair  to  a  coach  and  four,  and  her 
own  suite  to  ceremonial  committees  and 
Columbian  guards.  For  this  she  was 
criticised,  when  Americans  should  have 
been  the  first  to  applaud  her  democratic 
desire  to  avoid  senseless  adoration  and 
gaping  crowds. 

During  the  past  year,  in  addition  to  the 
guests  of  the  nation  and  the  exposition, 
hundreds  of  distinguished  men  and  wom- 
en of  different  nationalities  have  been  at- 
tracted to  Chicago,  and  their  presence  has 
produced  an  attractive  cosmopolitanism 
which  cannot  be  completely  obliterated 
even  when  the  magic  White  City  is  but  a 
memory.  This  meeting  and  mingling 
with  intelligent  men  and  women  of  the 
world  cannot  fail  to  benefit  the  society  of 
a  city,  heretofore  provincial,  and  its  effect 
will  be  felt  long  after  French,  German 
and  Spanish  have  ceased  to  be  spoken  in 
western  drawing-rooms. 

This  year  the  eyes  of  the  world  are 
upon  Chicago.  The  city  is  a  metropolis 
in  every  sense  of  the  word,  and  the  pres- 
ence in  the  streets  of  Cossacks,  Bedouins 
and  Javanese  attract  little  more  attention 
than  does  the  average  German  immigrant. 
This  liberalizing  of  a  great  inland  city  ; 
this  contact  with  the  world  must  produce 
a  lasting  benefit,  and  likewise  its  society 
heretofore  retiring,  exclusive  perhaps, 
and  certainly  puritanical,  must  become 
liberal,  elastic  and  comprehensive.  The 
day  when  society  can  be  governed  by 
church  ascendency  is  passed.  The  time 
when  society  must  reflect  the  best  cult- 


ure, refinement  and  artistic  taste  of  the 
community,  and  by  so  doing  become 
sparkling,  vivacious  and  attractive  to 
cosmopolites,  is  just  beginning.  There 
is  room  for  the  artistic  development  of 
Chicago,  and  that  is  what  the  Columbian 
exposition  is  doing.  The  city  needs  more 
studios,  and  publishing  houses,  more  con- 
servatories and  universities  —  or  rather 
greater,  for  we  have  them  in  embryo  al- 
ready. Chicago  is  a  commercial  metropo- 
lis. It  must  become  an  intellectual  me- 
tropolis as  well. 

The  Columbian  exposition,  through  it» 
superb  educational  facilities  and  the  ex- 
ample of  the  ' '  distinguished  guests  ' '  it 
has  gathered  together,  has  given  the  impe- 
tus to  intellectual  development.  If  every 
dollar  invested  in  the  exposition  is  irre- 
trievably gone,  if  ten  years  are  required 
by  the  citizens  of  Chicago  to  recuperate 
their  financial  losses,  time  and  money 
will  yet  have  been  well  spent.  The 
artistic  taste  has  been  created.  There  is 
enough  energy  and  perseverance  in  the 
city  to  overcome  far  greater  obstacles  than 
temporary  financial  embarrassment.  The 
sense  which  appreciates  the  beautiful  has 
been  cultivated,  and  never  again  can  Chi- 
cagoans  judge  a  man  entirely  by  his  abil- 
ity to  accumulate  wealth. 

Heretofore  Chicago  has  formed  a  civili- 
zation somewhat  apart  from  the  world. 
Its  reputation  certainly  has  not  been  aes- 
thetic. Its  society,  naturally  sensitive  to 
criticism  it  considered  in  a  great  measure 
undeserved,  and  geographically  removed 
from  the  social  centers  of  the  East,  has 
lived  apart  from  the  rest  of  the  world.  It 
has  grown  and  thrived  and  imbibed  the 
spirit  of  Americanism.  During  recent 
years  it  has  begun  to  acquire  successfully 
the  subtle  polish  the  world  requires  from 
those  who  aspire  to  social  distinction,  but 
so  far  this  western  society  has  been  com- 
paratively free  from  the  extravagancies 
and  vices  which  are  too  apt  to  follow  in 
the  train  of  the  highest  civilization. 

Chicagoans  have  been  too  busily  en- 
gaged in  building  their  city  and  their  for- 
tunes to  find  time  for  dissipation,  but  now 
all  that  must  change.  The  city  and  the 
fortunes  have  been  built.  Chicago  has 
taken  its  rank  among  the  great  cities  of 
the  world  ;  the  people  of  the  world  have 
entered  her  drawing-rooms  and  found  her 
society  energetic,  progressive,  and,  in 


602 


LULLABY. 


most  cases,  well-bred.  Fortunes  have 
been  created  to  be  spent.  Will  they  be 
spent  wisely  or  ill  ?  That  is  a  question 
Chicagoans  must  decide  for  themselves. 
That  life  in  the  western  metropolis  will 
never  return  to  the  simplicity  of  a  decade 
ago,  is  an  assured  fact.  But  behind  the 
splendid  trappings  of  metropolitanism  a 
foe  is  always  lurking.  That  foe  is  idle- 
ness and  its  attendant  demon  is  dissipa- 
tion. 

Yet  Chicagoans  welcome  the  advent  of 
the  luxury  which  wealth  renders  possible ; 
•it  is  the  natural  accompaniment  of  refined 
civilization,  and,  wisely  chosen,  it  cannot 
fail  to  prove  beneficial  to  the  community  ; 
but  let  them  avoid  the  mistakes  of  older 
civilizations,  and,  by  creating  an  intel- 


lectual social  standard,  drive  the  dissi- 
pated dawdler  to  more  congenial  climes. 
There  are  in  the  best  society  of  Chicago 
today — and  I  say  it  boldly  in  the  face  of 
probable  challenges  from  persons  ignorant 
of  the  facts — fewer  scandals  and  fewer 
divorces,  in  proportion  to  its  size,  than  in 
that  of  any  city  of  over  a  million  inhab- 
itants in  the  civilized  world.  Now  that 
Chicago  has  become  a  metropolis  ;  now 
that  its  society  has  been  brought  in  con- 
tact with  that  of  the  world  at  large, 
and  its  people,  having  money,  are  pre- 
pared to  spend  it — let  the  same  moral 
standard  be  maintained.  By  that  means 
alone  the  western  metropolis  may  surpass 
its  rivals,  and  stand  as  the  highest  type 
of  the  world's  civilization. 


er   I&e.   £a:\coc.K^-  CtT^es  tty 
•Will  te  c-oKynjg1 
t^e  clover  a  ^dt  t)^e 
/*ye  to  /^«Ti2&t'  c».t7oL  "to 

„  -     W'n 

to  foul    )ji5   sc^tl^e  aw<xV. 

'owj  aipcA   5lpeep  Wo.it   ^-er  )ji,.v  v 
Co.rer  ilpar;  J|)js  Blocks  are  you 


}ovi>§~  very 

J^earts  tlpxt   i-ca,r  tye  fyeat 
^o/^a^y   pretty  turjes 
?cs  a,f/d     ire- stars 


y***.!* 


THE  GOVERNMENT  EXHIBIT. 


BY  F.  T.  BICKFORD,  SECRETARY  BOARD  OF  MANAGEMENT  GOVERNMENT  EXHIBIT. 


THE  Governmental  exhibit  at  Chi- 
cago is  the  largest,  most  costly  and 
most  comprehensive  single  exhibit  ever 
prepared  for  any  exposition  at  home  or 
abroad.  It  is  an  exposition  in  itself.  Its 
immediate  cost,  including  that  of  its 
buildings  will  have  been  $1,350,000,  while 
the  intrinsic  value  of  materials,  drawn 
from  the  departments,  arsenals  and  insti- 
tutions of  the  Government  is  probably 
twice  as  much  more. 

The  law  creating  the  board  indicated 
ten  natural  great  divisions  of  the  work, 
comprising  the  eight  executive  depart- 
ments, the  Smithsonian  institution  and 
National  museum  (under  one  head)  and 
the  United  States  Fish  commission  ;  and 
a  bare  enumeration  of  the  articles  exhib- 
ited, without  descriptive  matter  or  com- 
ment, would  fill  a  volume  twice  the  size 
of  this  magazine. 

The  contribution  of  the  Department  of 
Agriculture  is  almost  entirely  a  creation 
of  the  board.  This  department  has  no 
store  of  historical  or  spectacular  material 
to  draw  upon,  and  inasmuch  as  it  does 
not  farm  an  acre  of  ground  on  its  own 
account,  the  abnormal  growths  and 
"  fancy  "  products,  animal  and  vegetable, 
which  form  the  staple  attractions  to  agri- 
cultural fairs,  were  inadmissible  as  illus- 
trative of  governmental  functions. 

Nevertheless,  this  department,  the 
youngest  in  the  executive  brotherhood,  is 
recogni/.ed  as  among  the  most  important 
in  an  exposition  sense,  being  the  only 
one  of  which  special  mention  was  made 
in  the  law  providing  for  American  partic- 
ipation in  the  last  and  greatest  of  the 
French  expositions.  This  is  a  depart- 
ment of  processes  and  experiment,  and  its 
annual  output  is  found  in  the  libraries  of 
the  country,  comprising  its  reports  and 
bulletins  upon  the  multifarious  subjects, 
which  interest,  or  are  supposed  to  in- 
terest the  American  farmer.  Its  exhibit 
is  a  material  illustration  of  the  processes 
and  experimentation  pursued  by  the  emi- 
nent scientists  at  the  head  of  its  several 
sub-branches. 

Enlarged  models  of  familiar  things  ; 
charts  of  distribution  ;  scientifically  class- 
ified specimens  of  products  designed  to 


bring  to  the  attention  of  the  farmer  the 
more  unfamiliar  secrets  of  agricultural 
science,  and  thereby  excite  a  deeper  and 
more  profitable  interest  in  the  publications 
sent  out  from  Washington  in  his  interest, 
comprise  the  weight  of  its  contribution. 
The  diseases  of  domestic  animals,  their  or- 
igin, nature  and  effects  ;  the  blights  and 
rusts  and  afflictions  to  which  the  vegetable 
and  fruit  families  are  heirs,  with  the  best 
remedies  and  methods  of  their  applica- 
tion ;  the  beneficial  or  detrimental  effects 
of  transplantation,  of  changes  of  soil, 
climate,  altitude ;  the  study  in  compar- 
ison, of  like  products  of  different  regions 
of  the  country  ;  the  havoc  of  insect  pests 
with  the  methods  of  their  discourage- 
ment ;  and  the  illustration  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  visitor  of  the  more  interesting 
and  instructive  processes  of  investiga- 
tion are  among  its  attractions. 

The  United  States  Fish  commission, 
the  least  of  the  ten  branches  in  an  exec- 
utive sense  —  a  mere  unattached  bureau 
of  the  Government — is  among  the  most 
prolific  in  the  adaptability  of  its  functions 
to  exposition  purposes.  It  has  won  high 
honors  in  all  the  great  events  at  home  or 
abroad  in  which  it  has  taken  part,  and 
its  methods  have  by  these  media  become 
known  to  and  copied  by  the  kindred  in- 
stitutions of  civilization.  Probably  the 
most  popular  single  feature  of  the  expo- 
sition is  the  aquarium — a  procession  of 
fresh  water  beauties  and  deep  sea  horrors 
—  more  striking,  varied  and  unfamiliar 
than  the  illusive  fictions  of  insanity's 
dream.  This  commission  illustrates  by 
an  interesting  series  of  models  the  devel- 
opment of  the  sea-going  fishing  marine, 
from  its  germ  —  the  ancient  tub,  whose 
sine  qua  non  was  room  and  inertia,  to  the 
thing  of  lightness  and  beauty,  which  ri- 
vals the  racing  yacht  in  speed,  and  makes 
the  Cape  Cod  fleet  the  finest  of  like  cre- 
ated things. 

The  Department  of  the  Interior  em- 
braces several  mammoth  bureaus,  having 
no  more  intimate  relationship  to  each 
other  than  is  imposed  by  their  subordina- 
tion to  a  single  head.  Its  exhibit  as  a 
whole,  therefore,  lacks  homogenity,  while 
the  fact  that  the  functions  of  some  of  its 


604 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


branches  do  not  readily  materialize  in 
"articles"  robs  it  of  completeness.  The 
Pension  office  makes  no  appearance  at  the 
Fair ;  and  while  the  Census  office,  the 
General  Land  office,  the  Bureau  of  Edu- 
catign,  and  the  Indian  bureau  contribute 
interesting  features,  these  afford  no  ade- 
quate idea  of  their  importance  respectively 
in  the  economy  of  the  general  Govern- 
ment. But  the  United  States  Patent 
office  and  the  Geological  Survey  are  re- 
garded as  among  the  most  prolific  of  the 
"show"  branches  of  the  Government; 
and  had  the  available  means  and  space 
been  quadrupled  the  expenditure  might 
still  have  been  prudent  and  praiseworthy. 

The  Patent  office  began  its  work  of  prep- 
aration early,  by  the  creation  of  a  board 
of  expert  examiners,  who  set  for  them- 
selves the  task  of  proving  to  mankind  the 
leading  influence  exerted  by  the  American 
patent  system,  upon  the  material  progress 
and  prosperity  of  the  country,  and  the 
world. 

The  display  embraces  nearly  three 
thousand  models  —  gems  of  the  model 
makers'  and  metal  workers'  art,  which 
illustrate,  serially,  the  march  of  invention 
in  fifty-four  selected  classes.  These  begin 
with  the  germinal  device,  in  comparison 
with  which  are  shown  the  types  of  suc- 
cessive improvements,  leading  up  to  the 
perfected  article  of  modern  commerce. 
The  series  range  numerically  from  that 
illustrating  improvements  in  bridges,  con- 
sisting of  only  nine  models,  up  to  that 
comprising  the  two  hundred  and  eighty- 
three  models,  showing  the  progress  in 
marine  propulsion — screw  propellers,  pad- 
dle-wheels, and  their  like.  In  a  spectac- 
ular sense  they  embrace  everything  from 
the  hand-made  output  of  the  proverbial^ 
poor  inventor,  to  the  "sextuple"  print- 
ing-press of  polished  steel  and  brass,  less 
than  three  feet  in  maximum  dimension, 
yet  capable  of  turning  out  tiny  imitations 
of  the  metropolitan  dailies,  legibly  printed 
and  ready-folded  for  the  mail.  The  ob- 
servant visitor  cannot  fail  to  share  the 
regrets  of  the  experts  that  the  laws  for- 
merly requiring  that  working  models 
shall  form  a  part  of  the  ' '  records ' '  in 
respect  to  patent  devices  are  no  longer  in 
force.  It  is  impossible  to  conceive  a  more 
instructive  and  profitable  display  than 
that  under  consideration. 

The  field  of  the  Geological  Survey  is  as 


wide  as  the  continent.  The  task  of  its 
agents  was  found  to  be  one  of  selection 
from  the  mass  of  available  material  rather 
than  of  invention  and  creation.  In  the 
display  of  "  contour  "  or  relief  maps  the 
casual  student  of  geology  may  gather,  at 
a  glance,  proof  of  the  fundamental  facts 
of  terrestrial  creation  which  are  among 
the  fruits  of  research  extending  over  mill- 
ions of  square  miles,  and  embracing  years 
of  time. 

The  kindred  or  contributing  sciences 
of  mineralogy,  metallurgy  and  paleon- 
tology are  illustrated  by  classified  collec- 
tions and  restorations,  while  the  office 
methods  of  the  organization  are  made 
more  intelligible  by  the  display  of  photo- 
graphs, charts,  transparencies,  and  by  the 
instrumental  exhibits.  The  purely  com- 
mercial feature  of  geological  research  is 
left  for  exploitation  by  the  private  exhib- 
itor in  another  branch  of  the  great  Fair  ; 
but  an  arrangement  of  the  specimens  pre- 
sented here  is  made  to  illustrate  the  com- 
parative mineral  wealth  of  sections. 

The  Bureau  of  Education  has" commend- 
ably  exploited  a  somewhat  unpromising 
field.  The  Government  supports  no 
schools  for  the  youth  of  its  miscellaneous 
public ;  and  though  the  national  bureau 
gathers  and  disseminates  all  material 
facts  with  regard  to  educational  matters, 
the  institutions  of  the  country  are  all- 
sufficient  exhibitors  in  their  own  behalf. 
The  central  feature  of  the  display  is  a 
model  town  library  of  five  thousand 
volumes,  incidental  to  which  are  illus- 
trated the  most  approved  methods  of 
library  administration,  and  devices  of 
library  equipment.  The  publications  of 
the  bureau,  and  its  machinery  of  collec- 
tion and  dissemination  of  intelligence  are 
adequately  represented  in  the  display. 
The  area  is  a  rendezvous  of  the  educators 
who  visit  the  Fair.  - 

The  Census  office  contributes  but  one 
conspicuous  feature,  consisting  of  a  set  of 
the  curious  machines,  electrical  and  me- 
chanical, which  were  first  used  during  the 
taking  of  the  last  census  for  tabulating 
the  returns.  Crowds  surround  the  tables 
during  all  exposition  hours,  watching  the 
deft  fingers  of  the  lady  experts  detailed 
from  Washington  to  operate  them. 

From  Alaska  there  has  been  gathered 
a  collective  displaj-  of  great  popular  and 
commercial  interest,  illustrative  of  the 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


605 


mineral,  animal  and  forestry  resources  of 
that  region,  as  well  as  the  ethnic  and  in- 
dustrial attributes  of  its  aboriginal  peo- 
ples. 

The  National  Parks  contribute  a  sin- 
gle object — a  section  of  one  of  the  mon- 
archs  of  the  forest,  twenty-six  feet  in 
diameter  and  thirty  feet  in  length.  This 
variety  has  been  accorded  the  pivotal 
place  of  honor — the  center  of  the  rotunda 
in  the  main  Government  building.  It  is 
somewhat  dwarfed  by  the  lofty  dome, 
whose  spangled  apex  hangs  two  hundred 
and  fifty  feet  above  ;  but  its  popularity  is 
evidenced  by  the  fact  that  extra  guards, 
military  and  civil,  must  be  drafted  on  all 
fete  days  to  manage  the  crushing  throngs 
which  seek  entry  to  its  interior. 

The  two  fighting  branches  of  the  Gov- 
ernment were  more  fortunate  than  the 
majority  of  their  fellows.  Pomp  and 
panoply  were  with  them  professional,  and 
display  wras  a  fixed  habit ;  while  their  ar- 
senals, armories  and  work-shops  were  un- 
failing store-houses  of  available  exhibit 
material. 

There  was  promise,  at  the  outset,  of 
rivalry,  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  so  many 
functions  of  the  one  are  counterparts  of 
those  of  the  other.  But  the  audacity  of 
meteoric  genius  paved  the  way  for  the 
avoidance  of  duplication,  and  contributed 
to  the  "harmonious  arrangement"  pre- 
scribed by  law.  "  Let  us  show,"  said 
genius,  "  to  the  prairie-born  citizen  what 
a  modern  battle-ship  is  like.  He  pays  his 
proportion  of  the  taxes,  and  should  have 
a  chance  to  see  how  they  are  expended." 
Through  scoffings  and  discouragements, 
pertinacity  bore  down  opposition,  and  the 
"crank"  notions  of  the  early  stages  be- 
came a  thing  of  brick  and  cement,  of 
iron  and  paint,  of  sponsons,  turrets  and 
towers— -in  short,  to  all  intents  and  pur- 
poses, a  modern  battle-ship,  of  full  size, 
rigging  and  equipment.  It  is  an  exhibit, 
pure  and  simple,  and,  viewed  from  with- 
out, simulates  in  every  feature  an  im- 
mense iron-clad,  moored  to  her  wharf  in 
the  lake.  The  main  deck,  however,  lacks 
the  obstructions  common  to  actual  vessels 
of  war,  and  space  is  thereon  found  for  a 
comprehensive  museum  of  naval  material, 
A  detail  of  officers,  marines  and  blue-jack- 
ets carry  on,  so  far  as  may  be,  the  life  of 
a  ship  of  war  in  commission. 

The  enterprise  of  the  naval  branch  of 


the  Board  of  Management  left  a  clear  field 
for  the  War  department  which  has  filled 
it  literally  to  overflowing.  In  addition  to 
a  varied  exhibit  of  ordnance,  the  opera- 
tions of  gun  and  ammunition  making  are 
carried  on  in  the  presence  of  the  visi- 
tor. From  the  Engineer  department 
the  more  striking  and  important  of  the 
public  works  undertaken  for  the  improve- 
ment of  the  interior  waterways  and  har- 
bors of  the  country,  are  illustrated  by  cu- 
rious and  costly  models.  The  Quartermas- 
ter's department  contributes  specimens  of 
all  the  stores,  articles  of  equipment  and 
supply  in  use,  and  displays  by  the  means 
of  lay-figures,  mounted  and  foot,  the  uni- 
forms of  the  American  army,  from  the 
colonial  period  to  the  present  day.  The 
Signal  Service  has  developed  a  combina- 
tion of  panoramic  and  realistic  art  com- 
memorative of  the  release  of  Greely  and 
his  companion  prisoners  in  the  north;  and 
the  Army  Medical  department,  in  an  aux- 
iliary building  furnishes  a  fully  equipped 
modern  post  hospital,  incidental  to  which 
the  inventions,  studies  and  developments 
of  surgery  and  medicine  form  a  collection 
of  rare  value  to  the  medical  profession. 

The  Smithsonian  institution  and  Na- 
tional museum  were  embarrassed  by  no 
other  limitations  than  those  of  money  and 
space.  Whatever  might  be  studied  or 
exhibited  was,  to  their  management,  a 
' '  function. ' '  With  the  over-crowded  halls 
of  the  National  museum  in  Washington 
to  draw  upon,  with  all  created  things  to 
be  illustrated,  it  paused  only  long  enough 
to  learn  what  its  sister  branches  proposed 
to  do,  and  then  selected  for  its  field  what 
was  left.  Trained  by  years  of  practice, 
profiting  by  an  experience  embracing  all 
preceding  expositions,  it  selected  speedily, 
modestly  and  well.  Its  twenty  odd  thou- 
sand sqviare  feet  of  space  are  filled  with 
the  handiwork  of  the  taxidermist  and 
modeller,  illustrative  of  that  which  is 
rarest  in  natural  history  and  ethnology, 
while  gems,  instruments,  curios  and  works 
of  mechanical  art  help  to  teach,  in  their 
arrangement,  casing  and  display,  all  that 
is  most  valuable  in  the  modern  museum 
management. 

The  Post-office  department,  following 
and  improving  upon  its  own  precedents 
at  Philadelphia,  New  Orleans  and  Cin- 
cinnati, exhibits  a  model  working  post- 
office,  so  arranged  that  all  the  internal 


6o6 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


workings  may  be  studied  by  the  visitor; 
and  serving  at  the  same  time  the  postal 
necessities  of  the  Fair. 

The  leading  features  of  the  display 
made  by  the  Treasury  department  are 
from  the  offices  of  the  coast  survey,  the 
marine  hospital  service,  the  light-house 
board  and  the  mint.  The  first  named — 
the  eldest  of  the  scientific  institutions  of 
the  Government — exhibits  a  wealth  of  in- 
strumental equipment,  for  the  determina- 
tion of  all  the  problems  in  geodesy  and 
hydrography,  and  publishes  specimen 
charts  in  the  presence  of  the  visitor. 

The  exhibit  of  the  Mint  comprises  a 
press  in  operation,  from  which  souvenir 
medals,  not  unlike  double  eagles  in  size 
and  appearance,  are  struck  off— twenty  to 
the  minute.  Its  numismatic  collection 
embraces  more  than  seven  thousand 
coins  dating  from  the  Greek  and  Roman 
republics  to  the  present  day. 

The  Marine  Hospital  service  has  con- 
tributed the  equipment  complete  of  a 
model  hospital  ward;  models  and  appara- 
tus of  the  National  maritime  quarantine 
and  articles  illustrative  of  the  methods 
of  the  inter-state  quarantine.  The  varied 
processes  of  disinfection,  of  bacteriological 
research,  and  of  the  collection  of  informa- 
tion with  regard  to  the  health  of  our  own  and 
foreign  peoples,  may  be  studied  exhaust- 
ively from  the  material  and  records  at  hand. 

The  Light-House  establishment  makes 
a  brilliant  exhibit  of  illuminating  appa- 
ratus, embracing  the  mammoth  hyper- 
radiant,  within  which  a  dozen  persons 
may  stand  in  comfort,  and  which  will  ul- 
timately be  placed  on  the  outer  diamond 
shoals  off  Cape  Hatteras. 

The  exhibit  of  the  Department  of  State 
is  largely  documentary.  It  is  designed  to 
illustrate  the  processes  of  negotiation  of 
whatever  nature  with  foreign  powers  ;  of 
correspondence  between  the  national  and 
state  executives  ;  of  the  issuance  of  proc- 
lamations by  the  president,  and  the  pub- 
lication of  the  laws  of  Congress,  and  of 
the  collection  and  publication  of  intelli- 
gence relating  to  foreign  trade  and  com- 
merce. Under  the  last-named  function  an 
extensive  collection  of  pictures  and  mate- 
rial has  been  made  illustrative  of  the  life 
and  commercial  needs,  taste,  and  habits 
of  the  Latin- American  peoples,  with  whom 
this  nation  is  seeking  to  establish  more  in- 
timate relations. 


The  contribution  of  the  Department  of 
Justice  is  also  chiefly  of  a  documentary 
nature,  illustrating  the  beginning,  growth 
and  present  conditions  of  various  features 
of  our  judicial  system,  colonial,  state  and 
national.  It  is  enriched  for  the  interest 
of  the  lay  visitor  b}-  man}7  mementos 
and  paintings  of  the  leading  jurists  of 
American  history,  and  by  fac-similes  of 
rare  historic  documents. 

The  Government  exhibit  comprises  aux- 
iliary features  of  great  value  and  interest, 
among  which  are  a  fully  equipped  life-sav- 
ing station,  manned  by  a  picked  crew  ;  a 
light-house  of  iron,  nearly  a  hundred  feet 
in  height,  built  for,  and  soon  to  be  placed 
at  Waackaack  station  in  the  Lower  Bay 
of  New  York  harbor  ;  a  weather  service 
station  in  which  are  carried  on  all  the  op- 
erations of  that  branch  of  the  public  ser- 
vice, from  the  taking  of  periodic  observa- 
tions to  the  printing  and  distribution  of 
weather  maps ;  an  Indian  school,  with 
teachers  and  pupils  drafted  from  the 
schools  and  maintained  at  Government 
expense  ;  a  model  militar}-  camp  of  two 
companies  of  United  States  infantry,  and 
a  model  marine  camp  of  one  company  of 
United  States  marines. 

The  Board  of  Management  of  the  Gov- 
ernment exjiibit  has  undertaken  nothing 
for  the  mere  purpose  of  display.  It  has 
limited  itself  religiously  to  the  illustra- 
tion of  Governmental  functions,  and  of 
these  it  has  selected  only  those  which  do 
not  come  into  active  competition  with  the 
private  exhibitor.  It  has  not  attempted 
in  respect  to  any  department,  bureau  or 
division  of  the  Government,  to  show  all 
that  was  possible,  or  to  illustrate  all  their 
functions,  holding  that  the  branch  which 
dealt  more  largely  with  facts,  theories  or 
principles,  could  reach  the  people  with 
sufficient  readiness  through  the  publica- 
tions authorized  by  Congress  ;  while  the 
branches  dealing  more  largely  with  un- 
publishable //«'#£•.? — "Articles  and  materi- 
als "—to  quote  the  terms  of  the  law — de- 
served the  preference  in  this  enterprise. 
The  purpose  of  its  creation  as  defined  be- 
ing to  prepare  an  exhibit  of  ' '  such  articles 
and  materials  as  illustrate  the  function 
and  administrative  facult}-  of  the  Govern- 
ment in  time  of  peace  and  its  resources  as 
a  war  power,  tending  to  demonstrate  the 
nature  of  our  institutions  and  their  adapt- 
ability to  the  wants  of  the  people." 


ETHNOLOGY  AT  THE  EXPOSITION. 

BY  FRANZ  BOAS. 


AT  great  expositions  the  achievements 
of  individuals  and  of  nations  may 
be  set  forth  in  two  ways  :  either  by  com- 
petitive exhibits,  in  which  each  individual 
and  each  country  endeavors  to  show  to 
best  advantage  the  points  of  eminence  of 
its  products ;  or  by  selected  exhibits, 
which  are  arranged  with  a  view  of  giving 
a  systematic  series  of  exhibits  covering  a 
certain  field.  The  latter  method  gives 
the  best  result  for  the  student  of  the  his- 
tory of  civilization  ;  the  former  is  unavoid- 
ably pursued  in  all  portions  of  an  exposi- 
tion which  have  a  commercial  interest,  as 
the  producer  considers  the  exhibition  of 
his  works  a  profitable  investment,  and  as 
the  consumer  or  trader  is  given  an  op- 
portunity to  find  the  best  source  of  sup- 
ply for  his  demands.  This  method  can- 
not be  avoided  even  in  art  exhibits  which 
rely  upon  contributions  of  living  artists. 
It  is  the  method  which  subserves  best  the 
interest  of  the  exhibitor  ;  it  is  the  exposi- 
tion method.  The  method  of  selected  ex- 
hibits is  more  advantageous  to  the  stu- 
dent ;  it  is  the  museum  method. 

Many  departments  of  the  World's  Co- 
lumbian exposition  have  a  series  of  ex- 
hibits arranged  from  the  latter  point  of 
view  ;  but  it  is  the  distinctive  feature  of  one 
only — of  the  Department  of  Ethnology. 
If  the  department  had  relied  upon  con- 
tributions of  exhibitors  only,  there  would 
have  been  danger  of  an  accumulation  of 
heterogeneous  collections,  arranged  ac- 
cording to  the  fancy  and  taste  of  collect- 
ors ;  a  systematic  representation  of  the 
present  status  and  methods  of  ethnology 
would  have  been  almost  out  of  the  ques- 
tion. Besides  this,  the  best  available 
material  is  massed  in  museums,  which 
naturally  can  send  a  small  portion  of  their 
collections  only  to  an  exposition. 

The  abandonment  of  the  plan  to  bring  to- 
gether isolated  ethnological  collections, 
and  the  effort  to  create  a  systematic  and 
comprehensive  exhibit,  characterize  the 
ethnological  department  of  the  World's  Co- 
lumbian exposition.  The  lines  on  which 
the  exhibit  was  to  be  developed  were  laid 
down  in  the  request  of  the  World's  Fair 
committee  to  Professor  F.  H.  Putnam,  of 


Harvard  university,  to  present  a  plan  for  a 
department  which  should  illustrate  early 
life  in  America,  from  remote  ages  down 
to  the  period  of  Columbus.  Thus  the  an- 
thropology of  America  was  made  the  lead- 
ing point  of  view  and  determined  the 
direction  in  which  the  department  de- 
veloped. 

Professor  Putnam  was  selected  chie/  of 
the  department,  and  at  his  suggestion  a 
considerable  sum  of  money  was  set  apart 
for  original  scientific  work  on  the  anthro- 
pology of  America.  The  results  obtained 
by  means  of  these  funds  form  the  nucleus 
of  the  ethnological  exhibits  at  the  World's 
Fair. 

First  in  importance  stands  the  work  in 
American  archaeology.  Four  subjects, 
which  cover  some  of  the  most  important 
problems  in  this  field,  were  selected  for 
special  studies  :  the  age  of  man  in  Amer- 
ica; thecultureof  the  mound-builders;  the 
archaeology  of  Central  America  ;  and  the 
ancient  culture  of  Peru.  Therefore,  these 
subjects  are  most  fully  represented  in  the 
exhibits  of  the  department.  The  work  has 
been  favored  by  good  fortune,  and  it  may 
safely  be  said  that  some  of  the  most  im- 
portant finds  have  been  made  during 
those  investigations. 

The  much-disputed  palaeolithic  imple- 
ments are  fully  represented,  together  with 
material  relating  to  their  stratigraphical 
position.  The  question  of  the  antiquity 
of  man  hinges  upon  the  undisputed  find 
of  rude  stone  implements  in  undisturbed 
layers,  the  geological  age  of  which  can  be 
determined  beyond  doubt.  Disputed 
ground  has  been  subjected  to  a  new  ex- 
amination, and  a  number  of  new  finds 
have  been  made,  which  seem  to  favor  the 
theory  that  man  inhabited  the  Delaware 
valley  at  the  time  when  the  glacial  grav- 
els were  being  deposited.  Incidentally, 
numerous  remains  of  the  Indians  of  this 
region  have  been  found,  and  a  series  of 
well-preserved  graves  have  been  opened, 
the  contents  of  which  are  shown  in  the 
collections  of  the  department. 

The  culture  of  the  mound-builders  of 
the  Ohio  valley  is  represented  by  a  mag- 
nificent collection.  Models  of  a  series  of 


6o8 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


earthworks  illustrate  a  number  of  types 
of  those  structures.  The  beaiitiful  im- 
plements and  ornaments  made  of  stone, 
copper,  bone  and  shell,  the  clay  altars  on 
which  burnt  offerings  were  found,  the 
variety  of  objects  buried  with  the  dead, 
convey  a  most  vivid  idea  of  the  arts,  in- 
dustries and  customs  of  those  people. 
They  also  show  that  we  must  not  imagine 
the  mound-builders  to  have  been  a  people 
very  far  in  advance  of  the  Indian  tribes  at 
the  time  of  their  discovery,  but  that  their 
culture  was  on  a  similar  level. 

The  results  of  those  systematic  explora- 
tions form  the  nucleus  of  the  exhibits  on 
North  American  archaeology.  They  are 
supplemented  by  a  series  of  collections 
which  give  a  comprehensive  review  of 
types  found  in  certain  regions.  Ontario, 
Ohio,  Missouri,  Wisconsin,  Tennessee, 
Arkansas  and  California  deserve  special 
mention  in  this  connection. 

The  archaeological  exhibit  of  the  state 
of  Colorado  is  also  the  result  of  special  ex- 
ploration, and  the  ancient  culture  of  the 
cliffdwellers  is  one  of  the  best  represented 
subjects  at  the  exposition,  as,  outside  of 
the  Anthropological  building,  where  the 
department  collections  are  exhibited,  the 
"  cliff  dwellers  exhibit"  is  devoted  en- 
tirely to  this  subject. 

Perhaps  the  most  impressive  exhibit  of 
the  archaeological  section  is  the  one  de- 
voted to  Central  America.  Never  before 
has  so  complete  a  collection  of  sculptures 
of  the  ancient  peoples  of  this  region  been 
attempted.  In  front  of  the  Anthropological 
building  are  found  facsimiles  of  some  of  the 
most  remarkable  edifices  of  Yucatan — -the 
famous  portal  of  Labna,  the  Parade  of  the 
Serpents,  the  arch  of  Uxmal,  and  several 
others.  The  moulds  which  served  for  the 
construction  of  these  facsimiles  were  taken 
by  agents  of  the  department.  The  collec- 
tion of  sculptures  in  the  Anthropological 
building  contains  casts  from  Mexico, 
Guatemala,  Yucatan  and  Honduras,  and 
is  supplemented  by  an  excellent  series  of 
photographs.  The  achievements  of  the 
Central  American  Indians,  and  the  stage 
which  their  civilization  had  reached  in 
early  times  and  long  before  it  was  so  ruth- 
lessly destroyed,  is  forcibly  illustrated  by 
these  works  of  art.  Costa  Rica  has  fur- 
nished a  collection  of  beautiful  stone 
carvings,  of  pottery  and  gold  ornaments, 
which  shows  another  side  of  the  varied 


arts  and  industries  of  Central  America. 

The  civilization  of  the  highlands  of 
South  America  is  well  represented  through 
collections  made  under  the  direction  of 
the  department.  Explorations  in  the 
necropolis  of  Ancon  have  yielded  a  large 
series  of  mummies,  with  which  are  found 
specimens  of  pottery  and  wonderfully  pre- 
served textile  fabrics,  woven  in  highly  ar- 
tistic designs.  The  exploration  was  not 
confined  to  this  region,  but  covered  all 
the  more  important  centers  of  South 
American  culture. 

Another  section  of  the  department  is 
devoted  to  ethnology  and  endeavors  to  set 
forth  the  customs  and  arts  of  various  peo- 
ple before  they  were  influenced  by  the 
whites.  Naturally,  American  collections 
predominate  in  this  section  as  well  as  in 
archaeology.  Although  nowadays  it  is 
difficult  to  obtain  good  collections,  which 
show  native  industries  entirely  unaffected 
by  our  civilization,  they  have  the  ad- 
vantage over  archaeological  collections 
that  the  implements  can  be  seen  in  actual 
use  and  that  the  meaning  of  ceremonial 
objects  and  of  ornaments  can  be  learned 
from  the  people  who  use  them.  The  Es- 
kimo of  North  Greenland  and  of  Alaska, 
the  numerous  tribes  of  the  North  Pacific 
coast,  the  Indians  of  the  northwest  terri- 
tories of  Canada  and  the  tribes  of  Wis- 
consin are  best  represented.  The  Indians 
east  of  the  Rocky  mountains  have  been  • 
so  much  modified  by  contact  with  the 
whites  that,  taken  as  a  whole,  a  small 
amount  of  material  only  has  been  gath- 
ered. A  number  of  excellent  collections 
from  South  America  represent  the  ethnol- 
ogy of  parts  of  that  continent  quite  ex- 
haustively. Brazil  sends  a  large  collec- 
tion of  its  curious  pottery,  dancing  masks 
and  drums  and  stone  implements.  Par- 
aguay has  a  magnificent  display  of  feather 
ornaments,  weapons  and  utensils  of  the 
tribes  of  the  Gran  Chaco,  of  Paraguay 
and  of  southeastern  Brazil,  which  can 
hardly  be  equalled  by  any  other  collec- 
tion. British  Guiana  and  Venezuela, 
Bolivia  and  Peru  add  their  share  to  the 
ethnological  exhibit,  which  illustrates  the 
recent  status  of  the  Indian.  All  this 
material  is  arranged  in  geographical 
groups,  in  order  to  convey  to  the  mind  as 
clearly  as  possible  the  culture  of  each 
tribe.  This  tribal  exhibit  is  supplemented 
by  a  few  very  good  collections  illustrative 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


609 


of  certain  manufactures  of  the  American 
Indians.  There  are  collections  of  basketry, 
of  beadwork  and  of  pottery,  gathered 
from  all  over  North  America. 

The  meaning  of  the  ethnographical  .spec- 
imens is  made  clearer  by  the  presence  of  a 
small  colony  of  Indians,  who  live  in  their 
native  habitations  near  the  Anthropolog- 
ical building.  The  most  striking  among 
these  buildings  are  the  houses  from  British 
Columbia,  with  their  carved  totem  posts. 
The  collection  from  this  region  is  partic- 
ularly strong  in  paraphernalia  used  in  re- 
ligious ceremonials,  and  their  use  is  illus- 
trated in  the  dances  which  the  Indians 
perform.  Another  instructive  group  of 
dwellings  are  the  bark-houses  of  the  Iro- 
quois  Indians,  which  are  inhabited  bj'  a 
number  of  members  of  the  various  tribes 
composing  that  stock.  Other  tribes  and 
dwellings  represented  in  this  group  are 
the  Eskimo,  Cree,  Chippewayan,  Winne- 
bago,  Navajo,  and  the  Arawak  of  British 
Guiana.  In  this  connection  must  be 
mentioned  the  highly  instructive  villages 
of  Midway  Plaisance,  in  which  a  great 
variety  of  races  are  found.  A  mere  enu- 
meration will  give  an  idea  of  the  scope  of 
these  exhibits  :  Java,  the  South  Sea 
Islands,  Dahomey,  the  Soudan,  Lapland, 
Arabia,  Turkey  and  Algeria  are  represent- 
ed here. 

The  ethnological  collections  from  for- 
eign continents  are  not  numerous.  Those 
from  Australia,  the  South  Sea  Islands, 
and  from  parts  of  Africa,  are  fairly  good, 
but  cannot  be  compared  with  those  of  the 
great  museums  of  Europe. 

One  section  of  the  Department  of  Eth- 
nology is  devoted  to  religions,  games  and 
folk-lore.  In  this  section  the  historical 
development  of  a  number  of  games  is  il- 
lustrated by  an  elaborate  series  of  speci- 
mens. Naturally,  the  games  of  the  Old 
World,  the  history  of  which  can  be  traced 
through  long  periods  and  through  many 
countries,  have  received  fullest  attention, 
but  homologous  games  of  primitive  peo- 
ple are  not  wanting.  In  the  arrangement 
of  this  section  the  wide  spread  of  ideas 
as  well  as  the  recurrence  of  similar  ethnic 
phenomena  among  a  great  variety  of  peo- 
ple, is- brought  out  with  great  force.  Ob- 
jects of  worship,  idols  and  amulets  form 
another  attractive  group  in  this  section. 

The  anatomical  and  psychological  as- 
pects of  anthropology  are  treated  in  the 


anthropological  laboratories.  The  meth- 
ods of  studying  the  anatomy  of  races  are 
illustrated  by  means  of  a  series  of  the 
principal  apparatus  used  in  anthropolog- 
ical investigations.  The  results  of  re- 
searches on  certain  races,  and  on  people 
of  the  same  race  living  under  different 
conditions,  exemplify  the  scope  and  the 
objects  of  these  researches.  In  order  to 
attain  this  end  more  satisfactorily,  a  num- 
ber of  instruments  are  shown  in  operation, 
and  measurements  of  visitors  who  present 
themselves  are  taken.  A  very  full  collec- 
tion of  crania  and  skeletons  illustrates  the 
anatomy  of  human  races.  A  second  sec- 
tion of  the  laboratories  is  devoted  to  the 
anatomy  of  the  nervous  system.  The 
growth  of  the  brain  and  its  anatomy  are 
set  forth  by  means  of  specimens,  casts 
and  diagrams.  The  third  section  of  the 
laboratories  is  devoted  to  experimental 
psychology.  There  a  very  full  collection 
of  psychological  apparatus  is  found,  and 
the  methods  of  investigation  are  illus- 
trated in  a  working  laboratory,  in  which 
a  number  of  the  simpler  tests  are  shown. 
These  laboratories  serve  to  explain  the 
objects  of  psychological  and  anthropolog- 
ical research,  but  at  the  same  time  the  ac- 
cumulating material  will  prove  to  be  of 
considerable  scientific  interest. 

The  remaining  parts  of  the  laboratories 
are  devoted  to  two  special  subjects  :  the 
development  of  children,  and  the  anthro- 
pology of  the  North  American  Indians. 
In  the  former  section  the  results  of  spe- 
cial investigations  on  the  physical  and 
psychical  development  of  American  chil- 
dren are  exhibited.  This  collection  of 
material  will  be  of  special  interest  to  edu- 
cationists who  believe  that  the  experi- 
mental study  of  children  is  the  true  basis 
of  the  art  of  education.  There  also  are 
found  Dr.  D.  A.  Sargent's  statues  of  the 
t3'pical  American  man  and  woman,  the 
dimensions  of  each  being  derived  from  an 
extensive  series  of  measurements  of  col- 
lege students. 

This  brief  sketch  of  the  ethnological 
exhibit  at  the  World's  Fair  shows  that  its 
strong  side  lies  wholly  in  a  full  represen- 
tation of  American  anthropolog}-.  Its 
great  meritis  thelarge  amount  of  material, 
new  to  science,  that  has  been  accumulated 
and  which  has  considerably  advanced  our 
knowledge  of  the  history  and  character- 
istics of  man  in  America. 

39 


POINTS  OF  INTEREST. 


BY  BENJAMIN  HARRISON. 


I  READILY  comply  with  your  request 
for  a  few  words  about  the  World's 
Columbian  exposition,  because  my  inter- 
est, which  has  followed  the  great  enter- 
prise from  the  beginning,  has  been  kin- 
dled into  enthusiasm  by  a  recent  visit. 

It  was  a  national  invitation  that  assem- 
bled the  representatives  of  all  nations  and 
tribes  at  Chicago.  Our  official  represen- 
tatives at  foreign  courts,  at  formal  audi- 
ences and  under  the  great  seal  of  the 
nation,  announced  the  event  and  bade 
them  come.  Chicago  could  not  corre- 
spond with  them.  A  nation  must  be  the 
host  at  this  great  entertainment.  Our 
arrangement  with  Chicago  was  a  private 
one — wholly  within  the  family.  There 
have  been  complications — they  were  to 
have  been  expected  ;  but  their  solution 
would  have  been  easy  if  the  national 
character  of  the  enterprise  had  been  con- 
stantly kept  in  mind.  Chicago  was  to 
supply  the  grounds  and  buildings,  in 
consideration  of  the  enormous  special 
benefit  that  the  location  brought  to  it. 
The  city  had  much  beside  money  at  stake 
upon  the  success  of  the  Fair,  but  the  na- 
tion had  more.  It  was  hard  for  those 
who  had  assumed  a  gigantic  financial 
burden  to  surrender  the  direction  in  mat- 
ters that  affected  the  question  of  the  re- 
turn of  contributions  that  had  strained 
the  public  spirit  of  the  most  enterprising 
and  public  spirited  of  our  great  cities. 
We  do  not  know  how  much  patience  and 
wisdom  has  been  expended  in  the  effort 
to  keep  the  national  commission  and  the 
local  corporation  from  going  apart,  and 
to  organize  an  effective  and  harmonious 
executive  direction.  But  the  work  we 
can  see,  and  it  is  wholly  and  greatly 
creditable. 

Only  upon  coie  question — Sunday  clos- 
ing— has  the  divergence  between  the  gen- 
eral and  the  local  direction  been  so  serious 
as  to  attract  much  attention.  I  do  not 
enter  into  the  question  of  Sabbath  ob- 
servance at  all  ;  it  was  not  before  the 
commission,  because  it  had  been  authori- 
tively  settled.  Before  the  acceptance  of 
the  $2,500,000  in  souvenir  coins  from  the 
United  States  it  was  an  open  question — 


after  acceptance  it  was  a  closed  question. 
The  promise  to  repay  the  par  value  of  the 
souvenir  coins,  which  had  brought  to  the 
treasury  of  the  Fair  double  that  value, 
was  not  a  good  rescission  in  law  or  in 
conscience.  Not  a  promise  to  pay,  but 
payment  of  the  full  value  received  was 
the  condition — if  the  act  of  congress  in 
diverting  some  part  of  the  donation, 
which  I  do  not  justify,  furnished  ground 
for  a  rescission.  It  is  not  pleasant  to  have 
our  foreign  visitors  see  a  national  exposi- 
tion open  on  Sunday  which  the  law  of 
congress  requires  to  be  closed  on  that 
day.  In  everything  else  Chicago  has 
done  so  magnificently  that  this  bad  break 
is  the  more  to  be  regretted.  But  I  have 
no  sympathy  with  those  who  threaten  to 
boycott  the  exposition  on  account  of 
Sunday  opening.  The  Sabbath  observer 
does  not  refuse  to  avail  himself  of  the 
Monday  train  because  of  the  Sunday 
train.  No  more  should  we  deny  ourselves 
the  inspiring  and  instructive  spectacle 
which  the  ' '  White  City ' '  offers  on  week 
days.  If  the  American  Sabbath,  that 
great  conservator  of  health  and  social 
order,  to  say  nothing  of  its  higher  uses, 
is  not  illustrated,  there  is  much  to  the 
praise  of  man  and  to  the  glory  of  man's 
Creator  to  be  seen,  without  involving  the 
spectator  in  Sabbath  desecration. 

Five  days  at  the  Fair  does  not  qualify 
even  the  most  industrious  and  retentive 
for  the  work  of  description.  He  must  go 
again  and  again.  A  benevolent  and  wise 
Christian  friend  of  mine,  who  has  a  Sun- 
day-school class  in  a  western  city,  com- 
posed largely  of  young  mechanics,  has 
planned  to  take  them,  three  or  four  at  a 
time,  to  see  the  exposition.  What  a 
spread  of  thought  and  imagination,  what 
an  education  in  mechanics  they  will  get ! 
To  them,  coming  from  humble  homes  and 
grimy  shops,  a  new  world  will  be  opened 
— like  that  Columbus  exposed  to  the  geog- 
raphers. It  is  a  suggestive  example,  and 
one  that  the  employers  of  labor  might 
well  imitate.  Some  will  have  to  inaugu- 
rate economies  if  they  see  the  Fair — but  it 
is  worth  while.  I  use  the  words  of  sober- 
ness when  I  say  that  it  is  worth  while  to 


A    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


611 


cross  the  continent  just  to  see  the  outside 
of  things  ;  and  the  interior  of  anyone  of  the 
greater  buildings  is  worth  as  much.  I  am 
not  a  travelled  American,  in  the  New  York 
sense.  My  own  country  I  know,  but  no 
other.  Consequently,  I  cannot- compare 
the  Columbian  exposition  with  those  of 
London,  Paris  or  Vienna.  The  Centennial 
exposition  at  Philadelphia,  however,  when 
contrasted  with  this,  gives  a  glorious 
vision  of  the  growth  in  power,  wealth,  in- 
vention and  art,  which  sixteen  years  have 
brought  to  the  world.  But  we  are  not 
without  competent  comparisons  with  the 
greatest  previous  expositions.  Sir  Henry 
Trueman  Wood,  the  English  represent- 
ative, says  over  his  own  signature : 

"  So  far  in  advance  is  it  of  all  expecta- 
tion, that  I  find  it  hopeless  to  convince 
my  countrymen  of  the  marvellous  nature 
of  the  spectacle,  or  to  make  them  believe 
how  well  it  is  worthy  the  long  journey 
from  England.  Only  those  who  have 
seen  it  can  justly  appreciate  how  far  this 
latest  of  international  exhibitions  has  sur- 
passed all  its  predecessors  in  size,  in  splen- 
dor, and  in  greatness  both  of  conception 
and  of  execution." 

The  German  commissioner,  the  Hon- 
orable Adolph  Wermuth,  in  response  to  a 
request  from  one  of  the  Chicago  news- 
papers for  his  opinion,  very  happily  and 
tersely  expressed  the  feeling  of  every  true 
American  who  sees  the  exposition.  His 
answer  was,  "  Hail  Columbia  !  " 

President  Anderson,  of  the  Royal  Insti- 
tute of  British  Architects,  in  presenting 
the  queen's  gold  medal  of  that  society  to 
one  of  the  designers  of  the  great  buildings 
at  Jackson  park,  said  :  "  These  buildings 
are  the  most  wonderful  development  to 
which  international  exhibitions  have  at- 
tained, or  are  likely  to  attain  in  the  fut- 
ure." They  are,  indeed;  and,  when  the 


awards  are  made,  suitable  recognition 
should  be  given  to  the  architects  who  de- 
signed them.  It  would  be  altogether  ap- 
propriate for  congress  to  give  them  medals 
of  honor. 

The  acreage  enclosed  is  three  times 
greater  than  was  ever  before  set  apart  for 
an  exposition,  and  the  roof  space  nearly 
twice  as  great.  If  this  "  expansiveness" 
subjects  the  visitor  to  added  labor,  he  is 
more  than  compensated  by  the  fact  that  a 
wider  distribution  enables  him  to  see 
everything  closely,  and  with  comfort. 
Only  in  the  fisheries  exhibit,  about  the 
aquaria,  did  our  party  find  any  difficulty 
in  getting  a  near  and  satisfactory  view. 
The  transportation  facilities,  to  and  from 
Jackson  park,  are  adequate  and  excel- 
lent. 

I  have  avoided  statistics — they  have 
their  use — the  dealer  in  art  has  to  do 
with  inches  ;  the  lover  of  art,  with  tone, 
color,  perspective,  expression.  I  like  to 
keep  in  mind  the  indefinite  sense  of  vast- 
ness  which  one  gets  as  he  ascends  towards 
the  high  roof  of  the  building  dedicated  to 
manufactures  and  liberal  arts.  To  be 
told  that  the  building  covers  thirty-one 
acres  of  ground  rather  limits  than  en- 
larges. The  Fair  is  not  only  a  success, 
but  a  triumph — an  American  triumph. 
When  it  closes  we  can  think  rightly  and 
gratefully  of  the  men  who  made  it  such. 
They  would  be  knighted  in  England  or 
Germany ;  but,  perhaps,  all  they  can 
expect  in  free  democratic  America  is  that 
the  newspapers  and  people,  who  knew  all 
along,  and  in  everything,  a  better  way, 
shall  admit  that  on  the  whole  it  was  well 
they  were  not  in  the  management,  and 
that  New  York  shall  admit  that  there  are 
two  cities  in  the  United  States  that  can 
adequately  and  creditably  entertain  the 
world. 


IN  THE  WORLD 

OF 
ART  AND  LETTERS. 


MBERANGER  is  undergoing  the  fate  of  a  "Turk's  head."  I  am  not  sure 
.  whether  the  English  language  affords  a  satisfactory  translation  of  this  emi- 
nently Parisian  locution.  In  the  fairs  of  Neuilly  and  St.  Cloud  are  to  be  seen  certain 
blocks,  fashioned  after  the  human  figure  and  invariably  bearing  a  Turk's  head.  Two 
sous  pay  for  the  right  to  test  one's  muscular  strength  as  with  a  heavy  mallet  he 
strikes  this  Turk's  head  and,  according  to  his  vigor,  scores  four  hundred  or  five  hun- 
dred pounds.  Thus  a  man  who  has  become  the  Turk's  head  of  his  fellow-citizens  is 
one  who  has  got  to  be  hit  by  every  passer-by,  without  having  the  privilege  of  retali- 
ating. 

There  is  a  proverb  with  us  that  says  that  the  ultimate  form  of  celebrit}-.  which  con- 
sists in  one's  likeness  ornamenting  clay-pipes,  can  only  befall  men  who  have  been 
first  "  Turk's  heads."  A  man's  glory  can,  to  a  great  extent,  be  measured  by  the 
abuse  offered  him  ;  the  stones  thrown  in  his  garden  serve  so  wyell  to  erect  his  pedestal  ! 

Using  that  material,  M.  Beranger  will  be  able  to  raise  for  himself  one  as  high  as 
the  Eiffel  tower.  Seldom  has  a  but  been  chosen  with  such  unanimity  by  the  Parisian 
press  and  the  worldly  chronicles  as  has  been  the  unlucky  organizer  and  speech- 
bearer  of  the  League  against  License  in  the  Streets. 

In  America  you  cannot  form  an  idea  of  the  excesses  which  we  had  gotten  to.  We 
are  so  ready  to  profess  our  hate  for  Itypocrisy,  that,  really,  we  had  ceased  to  have 
enough  of  it  left. 

Do  you  remember  that  pretty  anecdote  of  the  eighteenth  century  ? 

Duclos,  maintaining  before  two  great  ladies  that  honest  women  were  those  who 
befet  prized  frankness  and  who  could  smile  without  false  shame  at  a  spicy  story.  To 
sustain  his  argument,  he  treated  them  at  once  to  a  very  risky  tale,  followed  it  with 
another  still  worse,  and  as  he  lingered  on  the  details— 

"  Now,  Duclos,  beware  !  "  interrupted  one  of  the  ladies.  "  You  take  us  for  much 
more  honest  women  than  we  are." 

Evidently,  our  national  taste  for  Gallic  salt  has  been  unduly  stretched — consider- 
ing those  papers  whose  specialty  was  off-color  stories  and  the  display  of  licentious 
illustrations,  often  verging  on  the  obscene,  with  which  our  news-stands  were  decked 
from  earl}-  morning.  The  sacred  name  of  art  was  invoked  as  palliative.  Art,  alas  ! 
has  little  to  do  with  those  exhibitions,  which  most  of  the  time  are  simply  unclean. 

Police  and  magistrature  kept  still  ;  we  are  very  ticklish  on  that  subject  in  France. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  had  a  writer  or  an  artist  been  prosecuted  for  infringing  on  the 
laws  of  decency,  the  immediate  result  of  this  step  would  have  been  to  call  on  the 
offending  one  an  attention  far  from  unfavorable  to  him.  The  best  course  was  to  wait 
until  the  public,  saturated  with  these  spectacles,  called  for  repression. 


IN  THE  WORLD  OF  ART  AND  LETTERS.  613 

By  that  time  was  founded  the  League  against  License  in  the  Streets.  Its  pro- 
moters were  three  prominent  men  :  M.  Beranger,  M.  Passy  and  M.  Jules  Simon.  At 
first  their  initiative  was  very  well  received  in  Paris.  The  campaign  the}'  opened 
seemed  quite  legitimate.  They  were  the  cause  which  decided  the  disappearance  of 
those  licentious  prints  so  offensive  to  public  decency.  And  this  won  them  applause.  A 
number  of  adherents  enlisted -in  their  ranks.  These  were  the  palmy  days  of  the 
league — its  honeymoon,  which  came  to  an  end  as  all  honeymoons  do. 

Public  favor  encouraged  the  leaders  so  well,  that  they  imagined  the}7  could  go 
ahead  and  would  be  followed  with  the  same  confidence.  They  did  not  reckon  suf- 
ficiently on  the  instincts  of  our  race,  devoted  to  artistic  freedom  and  to  a  lenient  phil- 
osophy. Where  great  tact  and  great  deftness  were  needed  to  carry  on  the  pursuit 
and  repression,  their  hand  was  a  trifle  too  heavy. 

The  pupils  of  our  national  school  of  fine  arts  are  wont  to  give  every  year  a  fete, 
where  merriment  bears  a  rather  decollete  character.  I  believe  that  this  year,  on  the 
occasion  of  that  famous  and  much-talked-of  ball  (the  ball  of  the  four  branches  of  art), 
our  students  rather  overdid  the  thing.  An  exhibition  of  almost  nude  women  in  a  gar- 
den is  not  to  be  countenanced,  to  say  the  least ;  yet  it  would  have  been  more  sensible 
not  to  take  any  heed  of  it.  Instead  of  that,  M.  Beranger  goes  and  denounces  the  stu- 
dents' lark  to  the  court.  The  court,  of  course,  cannot  do  otherwise  than  to  prosecute ; 
the  tribunal  cannot  do  otherwise  than  to  pass  a  sentence  of  condemnation,  which, 
although  lenient,  sets  all  our  young  men  in  ebullition.  They  start,  Indian  file,  three 
or  four  thousand  in  number,  to  call  on  poor  M.  Beranger,  whom  they  have  nicknamed 
"Old  Pudor;"  they  hoot  him,  and  they  smash  his  x^ndow-panes.  All  this  row, 
however,  cannot  be  tolerated  ;  the  police  interferes,  blows  are  exchanged,  blood  flows. 
A  young  man,  wounded  in  the  fray,  dies  next  morning.  Thus  matters  grow  worse  ; 
for  very  little  "  Old  Pudor  "  would  be  charged  with  the  accident  and  be  called  an 
assassin. 

Interpellations  at  the  house  and  at  the  municipal  council  follow.  At  the  hour  I 
write  these  words  it  is  uncertain  whether  the  prefect  of  police  will  not  be  compelled 
to  resign,  and  whether  the  cabinet  will  not  topple  over  this  ridiculous  pebble  thrown 
by  fate  across  its  way — and  all  that  because  two  or  three  foolish  virgins  disported 
themselves  in  too  slender  attire  at  a  ball  given  in  artistic  Bohemia. 

FRANCISQUE  SARCEY. 


CHRONIQUE   PARISIENNE. 

M     BERANGER    est  en  train  de  passer  tele  de  turc.     Je  ne  sais  si  vous  trouverez  dans  la  langue 
anglaise — pour  vous  traduire  cette  locution  toute  Parisienne.     Dans  les  fpires  de  Neuilly  ou  de  St. 
•  Cloud,  il  y  a  des  mannequins  sur  lesquels  on  ach£te  pour  deux  sous  le  droit  d'essayer  sa  force.     Ces 
mannequins  sont  mvariablenient  une  t€te  de  turc.     On  tape  dessus,  et  1'on  anieiie  quatre  ou  cinq  cents,  selon 
sa  vigueur  musculaire.    Passer  tgte  de  turc,  c'est  done  se  mettre  dans  le  cas  de  recevoir  sur  le  crane  les  coups 


pour  uu  personnage  tres  en  vue,  c'est  devoir  sou  visage 
sculpte  en  bois  orner  le  fourneau  d'une  pipe.  II  n'y  a  que  ceux  sur  qui  1'on  a  fortemeut  daub6  qui  cotiquierent 
une  illustration  suffisaute  pour 6tre  choisis  paries  fabricants  de  pipes,  comme  parure  a  leurs  produits. 

La  gloire  d'un  homme  se  compte  en  grande  pattie  des  injures  que  ses  adversaires  lui  ont  adressees.  II  se  fait 
un  pi£destal  des  pierres  que  1'ou  a  lancees  dans  son  jardin. 

M.  Beranger  pourra  s'en  Clever  un  monument  aussi  haut  que  la  tour  Eiffel.  C'est  dans  ce  moment-ci  dans 
tout  le  journalisme  parisien,  dans  toute  la  chronique  mondaiue  un  feu  de  file  des  plus  nourris  centre  la  ligue 
dout  il  a  et6  1'organisateur,  dont  il  est  aujourd'hui  le  representant  et  le  porte  paroles.  Cette  ligue  c'est  la 
ligue  centre  la  licence  des  rues. 

Vous  ne  pouvez  vous  imag^ner  la-bas  en  Am6rique  a  quel  exc£s  cette  licence  6tait  mont£e  chez  nous.  Nous 
nous  faisons  volontiers  gloire  de  notre  haiue  pour  1'hypocrisie  mais  vraiment  nous  avions  fini  par  ne  plus 
en  avoir  assez. 

Vous  rappellez-vous  une  jolie  anecdote  du  xvme  siecle. 

Duclos  causant  avec  deux  grandes  dames  soutenait  cette  these  que  les  honnetes  femmes  £taient  celles  qui 
estimaient  le  plus  la  franchise  et  qui  sayaient  sans  fausse  pudibonderie  rire  d'une  anecdote  sal£e.  Etla- 
dessus  il  enfile  une  histoire  6grillarde,  qui  estbient&t  suivie  d'uue  autre  plus  nue  encore,  et  comme  il  jouissait 
de  son  effet. 

— "Ah  !  prenez  garde,  Duclos  !  "  lui  dit  uiie  de  ces  dames  1'arrgtaut  du  geste,  "vous  nous  croyez  aussi  par 
trop  honnfites  femmes." 

Peut-etre  aurait-on  abus£  de  notre  gout  pour  la  gauloiserie.  Nos  kiosques  eialaient  chaque  matin  une  foule 
d'images  liceucieuses,  certains  journaux  s'fitaient  fait  de  contes  graveleux  une  sorte  de  sp£cialite;  ils  les 
illustraient  de  dessins  dont  quelques-uns  6taient  presque  obscenes!  Ils  alleguaient  les  droits  sacr£s  de  1'art. 
L'art  helas  u'avait  pas  graud  chose  &.  voir  dans  ces  exhibitions  qui  n'etaieut  le  plus  souvent  que  fort 
malpropres. 

La  police  et  la  magistrature  lie  disaieut  rieu.     Nous  sommes  tres-chatouilleux  eu  France  sur  1'article,  et  si 


6i4 


IN  THE  WORLD  OF  ART  AND  LETTERS. 


1'on  se  fut  avise  de  poursuivre  soit  un  ecrivain  soil  un  artiste  pour  outrage  a  la  pudeur  on  eut  Etc  sur  de  provo- 
quer  un  mouvement  d'opinion  en  faveurdu  prevenu.  On  atteudait  done  que  le  public  sature  de  ces  spectacles 
se  rEvoltftt  de  lui-mfime  et  appelat  la  repression. 

C'est  alors  que  se  fonda  la  hgue  contre  la  licence  des  rues,  dont  les  promoteurs  furent  trois  personnages  tres- 
considerables:  M.  Beranger.  M.  Passy  et  M.  Jules  Simon.  A  Paris  on  leur  sut  gre  d'abord  de  leur  initiative. 
La  guerre  qu'ils  avaient  dEclaree  &  une  pornographic  dEcidement  trop  ehontee,  parut  legitime.  Ils  firent 
disparaitre  des  vitrines  les  images  licentieuses  qui  offensaient  la  pudeur  publique.  On  les  applaudit;  iiombre 
d'adherents  se  rangerent  derriere  eux;  ce  fut  le  beau  temps,  la  lune  de  miel  de  la  ligue,  lune  qui  ne  dura  guere 
comme  toutes  les  lunes  de  miel. 

Ces  messieurs  encouragEs  par  la  faveur  publique  crurent  qu'ils  pouvaient  aller  de  1'avattt  et  qu'on  les 
suivrait  toujours  avec  la  m6me  confiance.  Ils  ne  tinrent  pas  assez  de  compte  des  instincts  de  notre  race  qui 
aime  par  dessus  tout  deux  choses,  la  liberte  dans  1'art  et  la  gaite  dans  la  gaudriole.  II  aurait  fallu  beaucoup 
de  legerete  et  de  tact  dans  les  poursuites  et  les  repressions;  ils  eurent  la  main  uu  peu  lourde. 

Les  eleves  de  notre  Ecole  des  beaux  arts  ont  1'habitude  de  donner  chaque  annee  une  fgte  oft  la  joie  est 

§uelque  peu  decolletee.     Je  crois  bien  que  cette  annee  dans  ce  fameux  bal  des  guatre-z-arts,  qui  a  fait  tant 
e  bruit,  ils  etaient  alles  un  peu  loin.     Des  exhibitions  de  femmes  a  peu  pres  nues  dans  un  jardin,  c'est  un 
peu  raide!     Mais  il  eut  EtE  plus  spirituel  de  ne  pas  s'en  apercevoir. 

M.  Beranger  dEnonce  cette  gaminerie  au  parquet;  le  parquet  est  oblige  de  poursuivre;  le  tribunal  de  con- 
damner.  II  1'a  fait  d'ailleurs  avec  une  grande  moderation. 

Mais  voila  tou?  ces  jeunes  gens  en  Ebullition!  Ils  organisent  des  mondmes  contre  le  pauvre  M.  Berauger 
qu'ils  appellent  ironiquement  le  pere  "  la  pudeur;  "  ils  vont  au  nombre  de  deux  ou  trois  mille  le  "conspuer  " 
sous  ses  feugtres  et  lui  casser  ses  carreaux.  On  ne  peut  pourtant  leur  laisser  faire  impunement  tout  ce 
tapage.  Voila  la  police  en  mouvement;  on  cogne  de  part  et  d'autre;  le  sang  coule,  un  jeune  homme  est 
blessE  dans  la  bagarre  et  meurt  le  lendemain. 

Les  tfites  s'Echauffeut.  Peu  s'en  faut  qu'on  n'accuse  le  pere  "  la  pudeur  "  de  cet  accident,  et  qu'on  ne  le 
traite  d'assassin. 

Interpellation  a  la  chambre,  interpellation  au  conseil  municipal.  A  1'heure  ou  j'ecris  on  ne  salt  pas  si  le 
prEfet  de  police  ne  sera  pas  force  de  donner  sa  demission,  et  le  miuistere  ne  culbutera  sur  le  mechaut 
caillou  jete  par  le  hazard  au  travers  de  la  route. 

Et  tout  cela  parceque  quelques  rapins  en  humeur  de  rire  ont  promenE,  gorge  au  vent,  dans  un  bal  deux 
ou  trois  filles  de  demi  vertu  ! 

FRANCISQUE  SARCEY. 


HEINRICH  HEINE,  the  daring  cosmopolite  \vlio  professed  to  labor  for  the 
abolishment  of  national  prejudice,  would  seem  to  be  an  ideally  appropriate 
subject  for  a  World's  Fair  number.  His  familiar  letters  to  his  mother  and  sister 
now  for  the  first  time  published  under  the  title  "  The  Family  Life  of  Heinrich  Heine," 
(and  admirably  translated  into  English  by  Charles  de  Kay)  supplement  his  character 
on  rather  an  important  side;  but  make  an  end,  too,  of  some  of  the  picturesque  legends 
which  had  gathered  about  his  name.  The  pathetic  story,  for  instance  (for  which 
Heine's  first  biographer  Strodtmann  is  responsible)  that  he  \vrote  the  jolliest  letters 
home  while  he  was  writhing  in  agony,  in  order  to  conceal  his  terrible  condition  from 
his  old  mother,  is  apparently  a  piece  of  generous  imposture  which  the  lovers  of 
Heine  will  be  loath  to  dismiss.  However,  here  the  unpleasant  fact  stares  you  in  the 
face.  He  entreats,  to  be  sure,  his  sister  to  keep  the  old  lady  in  ignorance  as  to  the 
nature  of  his  illness;  but  a  few  weeks  later  he  must  have  forgotten  this  request,  for 
he  himself  informs  her  that  he  has  all  the  symptoms  which  are  the  forerunners  of 
paralysis. 

Our  fundamental  conception  of  Heine  as  a  brilliant,  dashing,  but  rather  unreliable 
guerilla  in  the  warfare  for  human  progress,  is  strengthened  and  clarified  by  many 
of  these  intimate  confessions.  He  was  an  egotist  to  the  core,  and  essentially  lacking 
in  nobility.  Though  he  is  fascinating,  he  is  never  truly  admirable.  He  was  too 
much  of  a  scoffer  and  too  much  interested  in  the  figure  he  was  cutting,  to  surrender 
himself  with  generous  ardor  to  any  cause.  Though  a  lover  of  liberty  and  a  professed 
hater  of  tyranny,  Napoleon  was  his  hero,  and  every  instinct  of  his  soul  was  aristo- 
cratic. It  was  the  fact  that  (being  born  a  Jew)  he  felt  the  thorn  in  his  own  flesh, 
which  inspired  him  with  a  sympathy  for  the  under  dog  in  the  struggle  for  existence. 
But  when  the  under  dog  encouraged  by  this  printed  sympathy,  presumed  to  grow 


IN  7 HE  WORLD  OF  ART  AND  LETTERS. 


friendly  and  companionable,  Heine's  first  impulse  was  to  kick  him  down  stairs.  As 
for  the  three  grand  abstractions  which  the  French  revolution  emblazoned  in  blood 
and  fire  upon  the  horizon  of  the  expiring  century,  Heine's  devotion  to  them,  as  ex- 
emplified by  his  life,  was  more  than  half  Pickwickian.  He  loved  liberty,  except  in  so 
far  as  it  made  men  free;  equality,  except  in  so  far  as  it  made  his  inferiors  unpleas- 
antly familiar;  and  fraternity,  exdept  in  so  far  as  it  made  the  mob  his  brothers.  He 
loved  with  the  instinctive  predilection  of  a  fastidious  soul,  what  was  eminent,  excep- 
tional and  heroic,  and  I  cannot  but  believe  that  it  was  the  accident  of  his  birth, 
identifying  him  with  those  whom  he  disliked,  which  made  him  enlist  in  the  ranks  of 
the  revolutionists.  In  a  beautiful  passage,  written  on  his  bed  of  agonized  suffering — 
his  mattress-grave  as  he  called  it — he  begged  that  a  sword,  rather  than  a  laurel 
wreath,  be  placed  upon  his  coffin.  "  For,"  he  said,  "  poetry,  much  as  I  have  loved 

her,  was  with  me  nothing  but  a  divine  plaything But  I  was  a  valiant 

soldier  in  the  cause  of  the  emancipation  of  humanity." 

Matthew  Arnold  has  already  remarked  upon  the  pathetic  self-delusion  of  this  pass- 
age. And  yet  it  is  not  to  be  denied  that  Heine,  in  his  own  inconsequent  way,  did 
effective  service  in  the  cause  which  he  professed  to  have  at  heart.  If  not  a  sword, 
then  at  least,  a  dagger  ought  to  have  been  placed  upon  his  coffin — a  keen,  bright, 
jeweled  dagger,  the  beauty  of  whose  workmanship  half  disguises  the  fact  that  it 
is  a  deadly  weapon.  HJALMAR  HJORTH  BOYESEN. 


S»       THE 
MONTH 

IN 
ENGLAND 


MR.  CHIVY  SLIME  described  himself  as  "the  most  literary  fellow  breathing," 
and,  assuredly,  Mr.  Gosse's  "  Questions  at  Issue  "  (Heinemann)  is  the  most 
literary  book  of  the  month.  It  is  entirely  concerned  with  literary  problems,  modern 
literary  problems,  so  that  Mr.  Gosse  is  able  to  say,  "  that  Homer  is  a  great  poet  is 
not  a  question  at  issue."  Alas,  it  is  a  question  at  issue,  for  the  immense  majority  of 
critics  believe  Homer  to  have  been  :  one  great  poet,  one  inferior  ditto,  one  multitude 
of  reciters  and  ballad-mongers,  four  or  five  redacteurs  (all  bad),  a  crowd  of  inter- 
polators, and  ancient  editors  beyond  all  reckoning.  Indeed,  Wilamowitz  Mollen- 
dorff  frankly  avers  that  Homer  (as  we  take  him)  is  not  a  great  poet.  So  the  question  is 
at  issue,  though  not  for  Mr.  Gosse,  with  his  eyes  fixed  on  the  magazines,  the  newspa- 
pers, the  successors  of  Lord  Tennyson.  But  all  this  discussion  deals  only  with  a 
casual  remark  in  a  preface.  The  book  is  lively  and  easily  read,  and  provocative  of 
controversy.  Mr.  Gosse,  asking  "What  is  a  great  poet?"  makes  up  an  English 
twelve,  and  remarks  :  "In  the  case  of  Scott,  I  must  still  be  firm  in  excluding  him." 
The  attitude,  the  voice,  are  those  of  Miss  Pinkerton,  arranging  the  prize  list  of  her 
academy  for  young  ladies.  It  is  very  difficult  to  select,  say,  an  eleven  of  England, 
or  even  of  Oxford,  at  cricket.  Are  3-011  for  Mr.  Arkwright,  or  for  young  Mr.  Palairet  ? 
There  is  no  certainty,  no  absolute  test,  in  such  selections.  Personally,  I  might  put 
in  Scott,  and  exclude  Byron  and  Pope,  if  I  were  making  up  a  poetic  team.  But  would 
not  Mr.  Gosse  think  it  funny  if  I  wrote  :  "In  the  case  of  Pope,  I  must  still  be  firm 
in  positively  excluding  him."  It  is  extremely  funny.  But  everyone  who  still  cares 
for  the  literature  of  the  day  is  sure  to  read  "  Questions  at  Issue,"  to  agree  or  dis- 
agree ;  but  to  disagree  in  a  friendly  and  sympathetic  manner.  The  "  Lucianic  "  essay 
is  diverting,  though  it  rather  reminds  one  of  "  Friendship's  Garland  "  than  of  Lucian. 
The  amateur  of  Scotch  history  and  manners  will  welcome  Mr.  T.  F.  Henderson's 
"  Old  World  Scotland  "  (Fisher  Unwin).  The  style  is  rather  heavy  and  complicated, 
in  places,  and  the  essay  on  the  "  Border  Reiver  "  somewhat  jejune.  But  the  study  of 


6i6 


IN  THE  WORLD  OF  ART  AND  LETTERS. 


"  Kirk  Discipline"  must  open  Presbyterian  eyes  to  the  truly  monstrous  and  intoler- 
able pretensions  of  the  kirk,  when  she  was  like  "  an  army  with  banners."  Every 
statesman,  however  profligate,  selfish,  or  dull,  who  lived  between  1560  and  1688,  had 
to  fight  the  kirk  for  the  very  life  of  the  state  ;  thus  even  Morton,  even  James  vi., 
even  Lauderdale,  became  sympathetic  and  appear  as  friends  of  human  freedom.  The 
essay  on  Darnley's  murder  tries  to  knock  another  nail  into  the  coffin  of  Queen  Mary's 
reputation— but  the  subject  demands  minute  discussion,  impossible  here. 

Mr.  Whibley  has  edited  old  ^ren's  delightful  "  Young  Cricketer's  Tutor  "  (1833), 
with  a  preface.  He  takes  Nyren,  not  Charles  Cowden  Clarke,  for  the  writer  of  the 
book.  But  Mr.  Whibley  cannot  have  read  Clarke's  preface  to  the  second  edition  (1840), 
where  Clarke  says  "his  little  book  was  compiled  from  unconnected  scraps  and 
reminiscences  during  conversations  concerning  his  old  playmates."  This  settles  the 
question,  A  critic  in  the  Academy  is  correct :  Clarke  is  the  author,  Nyren  only 
provides  the  materials  of  this  charming  book,  as  English  as  cricket  itself.  (Published 
by  Nutt.) 

Though  I  edited  it  myself,  I  will  venture  to  mention  another  reprint :  Mr.  Kirk 
of  Aberfoyle's  "Secret  Commonwealth  of  Elves,  Fauns,  and  Fairies."  (Nutt.)  Mr. 
Kirk  was  carried  away  from  earth  in  1692,  by  the  "good  folk,"  the  fairies.  His 
manuscript  lay  unpublished  till  1815,  when  Messrs.  Longmans  put  out  one  hundred 
copies. 

Mr.  Kirk's  charmingly  innocent  psychical  researches  may  be  compared  with  those 
of  Mr.  Ernest  Hart  in  "  Hypnotism,  Mesmerism,  and  the  New  Witchcraft."  (Smith 
&  Elder.)  Mr.  Hart  has  rather  a  domineering  style.  What  he  believes  in  (hyp- 
notism) is  a  fact  in  nature  ;  many  queer  phenomena,  which,  in  all  ages,  and  by  Mr. 
Kirk,  are  said  to  accompany  the  hypnotic  state,  Mr.  Hart  rejects  as  "impostures." 
It  may  be  so  ;  but  Mr.  Hart's  arguments  and  manner  are  very  far  from  being  per- 
suasive. 

Among  books  of  fiction,  Mr.  Kipling's  "Many  Inventions"  (Macmillan)  is  far 
the  most  popular,  and  deserves  its  popularity.  There  are  great  varieties  of  excellence 
in  the  tales.  The  fun  of  "  The  Children  of  the  Zodiac"  I  fail  to  see,  but  "  In  the 
Rukh"  is  a  surprising  piece  of  modified  were-wolfism ;  "The  Best  Story  in  the 
World"  is  one  of  the  five  or  six  best  stories  in  the  world.  "The  Lost  Legion" 
shows  a  new  kind  of  skill  in  the  supernatural,  and  the  three  soldiers  are  as  good  as 
ever,  except  in  ' '  Love  o'  Women, ' '  which  seems,  to  my  taste,  rather  dully  disagreeable 
than  really  "  powerful."  But  it  is  all  a  matter  of  taste. 

A  writer  quite  new  to  me,  Mr.  Hope,  published  last  year  a  most  diverting  novel, 
"  Mr.  Witt's  Widow,"  and  this  year  "  Change  of  Air."  (Methuen.)  As  Mr.  Hope  is 
apparently  young,  and  ma}r  be  guileless,  it  might  pay  to  pirate  "Mr.  Witt's  Widow." 
It  is  full  of  humor  and  of  irony,  reminding  one  of  Mr.  Norris  at  better  than  his  best. 
Mr.  Hope  has  written  other  novels,  which  I  have  not  read.  A.  LANG. 


IN  Peru  (as  is  told  by  travellers  returned  hence  out  of  that  far  country)  there  hap- 
pens once  perhaps  in  a  century  a  rain-fall  in  the  high  region  back  from  the 
coast — near  two  miles  above  the  sea-level — that  otherwise,  from  generation  to  gen- 
eration, is  parched  by  the  unclouded  sun.  And  scarce  is  this  rare  luxury  of  water 
poured  out  from  heaven  (the  travellers  say  farther)  than  is  all  that  desolate  region 
— until  that  moment  as  bare  as  the  peaks  of  rock  above  it — covered  over  with  delicate 


fN  THE  WORLD  OF  ART  AND  LETTERS.  617 

green  grasses  and  all  manner  of  flowers :  for  God  so  manages  this  matter  that  seeds 
remain  always  in  that  dry  earth,  in  waiting  for  the  time  when  He  shall  bid  them 
germinate  by  sending  them  His  rain. 

Much  in  the  way  of  the  Peruvian  miracle,  as  it  has  seemed  to  me,  was  the  sudden 
npspringing  of  refining  influences  in  this  country  which  followed  the  Centennial  Ex- 
hibition of  1876 — when,  the  needed  conditions  being  fulfilled,  there  was  instantly  a 
germination  of  gracious  seeds  which  all  along  had  lain  hidden  in  a  neglected  yet  not 
sterile  soil,  Then  was  reached  one  of  the  deeply,  yet  at  the  moment  not  clearly, 
marked  turning-points  in  our  life  national  :  when,  without  proclamation,  silently,  al- 
most unconsciously  to  ourselves,  began  our  emancipation  from  undivided  ultilitarian- 
ism  and  we  openly  (yet  still  a  little  shamefacedly)  made  the  principle  of  beauty  an 
active  factor  in  our  lives.  And  so  great  has  been  the  national  change  wrought  by 
the  refining  influences  then  implanted — influences  which  somehow  all  at  once  put  us 
in  the  way  of  knowing  that  we  needed  ideals  and  of  creating  them  and  of  striving  to 
realize  them — that  those  of  us  who  are  so  unfortunate  as  to  be  old  enough  to  remem- 
ber distinctly  how  matters  stood  seventeen  years  before  that  Centennial  sometimes 
now,  seventeen  years  after  it,  being  pulled  up  short  by  a  sudden  confronting  with  one 
or  another  of  its  many  elevating  results,  fall  to  wondering  if  we  have  not  slipped 
by  accident  across  an  orbit  or  two  into  another  and  superior  planet  revolving  in  a 
purer  sort  of  space. 

There  is  no  record  in  Peru  (for  the  reason  that  the  event  has  not  occurred  there)  of 
what  luxuriant  beauty  of  vegetation  would  cover  all  those  bare  mountain  heights 
should  fresh  rain  descend  upon  them  ere  yet  the  first  growth  of  flowers  and  grasses, 
withering  for  want  of  moisture,  had  fallen  into  the  soft  slumber  which  is  rest  with 
nature  but  with  men  is  death.  Therefore  the  parallel  that  I  have  drawn  between  the 
revival  of  those  desert  places  of  the  Andes  and  of  the  not  less,  yet  differently,  desert 
places  of  this  our  own  country  is  not  a  complete  one  :  for  the  fortunate  reason  that 
with  us,  while  the  growth  of  the  first  germination  prosperously  continues,  a  second 
germination  is  about  to  begin. 

As  we  all  know,  the  Columbian  creations  of  beauty  at  Chicago,  before  which  the 
present  world  stands  still  in  a  wondering  admiration,  are  the  flowers  which  less  than 
a  score  of  years  ago  at  Philadelphia  sprouted  in  the  Centennial  soil  ;  and  we  have  but 
to  contrast  the  two  exhibitions,  point  by  point,  to  arrive  at  a  just  appreciation  of  the 
prodigious  advances  which  we  have  made  on  the  lines  of  intellectual  development 
since  an  understanding  love  of  things  beautiful  became  consciously  a  part  of  our 
national  soul.  This  much  we  perceive  easily.  But  to  perceive,  in  a  spirit  of  prophecy, 
the  logical  outcome  of  the  fresh  and  wider  germination  which  now  "has  begun  at 
Chicago  puts  even  the  most  sanguine  of  us — because  of  the  very  dazzle  and  glory  of 
it — almost  to  a  stand.  For  though  the  matter,  obviously,  is  but  a  simple  enough 
calculation  in  the  rule  of  three — the  Centennial  Exhibition  of  1876  being  to  the  con- 
dition of  the  country  now  as  the  Columbian  Exhibition  of  1893  is  to  the  condition  of 
the  country  in  1910 — the  result  thus  arrived  at  is  so  overwhelming  in  its  promise  of 
magnificent  achievement  that  to  accept  it  demands  great  steadfastness  in  faith. 

Also,  being  perceived,  this  result  demands  great  thankfulness.  I  believe — for 
I  hold  that  happiness  and  sorrow,  with  the  emotions  thereon  attendant,  are  not  the 
monopolistic  attributes  of  man  alone — that  those  high  desert  places  in  the  Andes  are 
full  of  gratitude  when  God  sends  His  rain  upon  them  and  their  seemingly  dead  and 
forgotten  solitudes  for  a  little  while  are  gladdened  (yet  through  that  short  season  are 
made  as  blithe  as  the  freshest  garden  in  the  tropics)  by  an  outburst  of  beautiful  life. 
Far  deeper,  then,  should  be  our  gratitude  for  the  beauty  which  has  been  added  to 
our  natures,  and  for  the  open  promise  that  yet  greater  beauty  will  be  given  us  in 
the  ripening  fulness  of  time.  For  in  our  case,  as  in  the  case  of  those  thankful 
mountains,  our  barrenness  in  part  has  been  hidden  ;  and  with  the  happy  difference 
in  our  favor  that  with  us  the  beautiful  growth  continues,  and  promises  to  be  aug- 
mented continually,  instead  of  being  lost  in  a  long  trance  again  at  the  end  of  one 
bright  year. 

THOMAS  A.  JANVIER. 


6i8 


ALIEN  A  7  ION. 


TWENTY   BOOKS   OF  THE   MONTH. 


FICTION.— THE  NIAGARA  BOOK,  by  W. 
D.  Howells,  Mark  Twain  and  Others. 
Underhill  &  Nichols.  $1.25. 

PIETRO  GHISLERI,  by  F.  Marion 
Crawford.  Macmillan  &  Co.  $1.00. 

THE  REFUGEES,  by  A.  Conan  Doyle. 
Harper  &  Bros.  $1.75. 

THOSE  GIRLS,  by  John  Strange  Win- 
ter. Tait,  Sons  &  Co.  $1.00. 

A  TILLYLOSS  SCANDAL,  by  J.  M.  Bar- 
rie.  Lovell,  Coryell  &  Co.  $1.00. 

THE  PRINCE  OF  INDIA,  by  Gen.  Lew 
Wallace.    Harper  &  Brothers.    $2.50. 
SCIENCE. --DECIPHERMENT  OF  BLURRED 
FINGER  PRINTS,   by    Francis    Galton. 
80  cents. 

A  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS,  by  Alfred 
Newton.  Part  i.  Macmillan  &  Co. 
$2.60. 

THE  UNSEEN  FOUNDATIONS  OF  SO- 
CIETY, by  the  Duke  of  Argyll.  Mac- 
millan &  Co.  $3.50. 

ESSAYS.— WOMAN'S  MISSION,  edited  by 
Baroness  Burdett-Coutts.  Charles  Scrib- 
ner'sSons.  $3.50. 

NATIONAL  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  :  A 


FORECAST,  by  C.  H.  Pearson.    Macmil- 
lan &  Co.     $4.00. 

RELIGION.— THE  DEFENCE  OF  PROF. 
BRIGGS  BEFORE  THE  GENERAL  ASSEM- 
BLY.    Charles  Scribner's  Sons.    75  cts. 
BIOGRAPHY.— MEMOIRS  OF  CHANCEL- 
LOR PASQUIER.     Brentano.     $2.40. 

WOMEN  ADVENTURERS,  edited  by 
Menie  Muriel  Dowie.  Macmillan  &  Co. 
$1.50. 

EDWIN  BOOTH,  by  Lawrence  Hutton. 
Harper  &  Bros.  50  cents. 

AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  GEORG  EBERS, 
translated  by  Mary  J.  Safford.  D.  Ap- 
pleton  &  Co.  $1.25. 

TRAVEL. — AMERICANS  IN  EUROPE,  by 
one  of  them.     Tait,  Sons  &  Co.    $1.00. 

THE  JOURNAL  OF  MARIANNE  NORTH, 
edited  by  Mrs.  John  Addington  Sy- 
monds.  Macmillan  &  Co.  $3.50. 

THE  COLUMBUS  MEMORIAL,  edited  by 
George  Young.  Cranston,  Stowe  &  Co. 
$1.00. 

THE  EMPIRE  OF  THE  TSARS  AND  THE 
RUSSIANS,  by  Anatole  Leroy-Beaulieu. 
G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons.  $1.00. 


ALIENATION. 

BY  EDWARD  LUCAS  WHITE. 

THE  stars  shine  out   above  the  barren  wold, 
Each  sending  unto  me  some  weary  light, 
Starved  and  diminished  by   an   endless  flight 

Through  everlasting  samenesses   untold. 

And  lower ;   yea,  and   brighter ;   I   behold 

Your  lamp  that  glimmers   in   the   aching  night, 
Some   clovered   furlongs   from   my  yearning  sight, 

Piercing  with   mellow   rays   the  dripping  cold. 

As   I   perceive  the  wind-tunes   in   the  trees, 
I  seem   to   feel   the  music  of  the  spheres 

Thrill   all   about,  from   every   chanting  star ; 
But  the  near  songs  you  sing  I   cannot  seize, 

With  my  strung  soul   or  with  my  eager  ears, 
Your  heart   is   distant   from   my   heart  so  far. 


THB  great  Fair  has  its  scientific  features,  and  some  of  the  exhibits  in  this  line 
are  said  to  be  admirable.  So  far,  however,  as  one,  prevented  by  circumstances 
from  seeing  for  himself,  can  learn,  astronomy  is  not  specially  conspicuous,  though 
scattered  here  and  there  through  the  various  sections  a  great  deal  is  to  be  found  which 
is  really  interesting  and  important.  The  principal  exhibits  by  our  American  instru- 
ment makers  are  those  of  Warner  &  Swasey  and  Saegmuller.  The  former  presents  a 
part  of  the  mounting  of  the  great  Yerkes  telescope,  which  when  finished  will  be  by  far 
the  most  powerful  instrument  in  the  world  with  its  4o-inch  object-glass  (by  Clark)  and 
its  tube  nearly  seventy  feet  in  length.  They  also  show  a  very  beautiful  12-inch  telescope, 
and  a  number  of  smaller  instruments.  Saegmuller  shows  some  elaborate  equatorial 
telescopes,  an  excellent  meridian-circle,  and  various  field  instruments.  Brashear 
exhibits  a  number  of  the  magnificent  and  really  epoch-making  "  diffraction-gratings  " 
of  Professor  Rowland,  and  with  them  some  fine  spectroscopes,  which  contrast  in  a  very 
interesting  way  with  the  historical  apparatus  of  Kirchoff  and  Bunsen  exhibited  in  the 
German  section.  The  foreign  makers  of  astronomical  instruments  appear  to  have 
sent  very  little.  Queen  &  Co.,  of  Philadelphia,  in  their  extensive  exhibit  of  scientific 
apparatus,  show  a  collection  of  imported  telescopes  and  minor  instruments,  and  Sir 
Howard  Grubb,  of  Dublin,  has  some  astronomical  instmments  in  his  exhibit  in  the 
English  section.  But  so  far  as  we  can  learn  the  great  French  and  German  opticians 
are  not  represented  at  all. 

To  one  interested  specially  in  the  progress  of  the  science,  the  most  noteworthy 
objects  are  the  astronomical  photographs  of  various  kinds.  The  English  section,  in 
addition  to  many  eclipse  photographs,  contains  the  wonderful  nebula  photographs  of 
Roberts  and  Common.  In  some  respects  Professor  Pickering's  collection  in  the 
Harvard  college  exhibit,  is  still  more  notable,  containing  not  only  the  latest  results 
obtained  at  Cambridge  and  in  South  America  by  the  Harvard  observers,  but  begin- 
ning with  Bond's  historical  daguerreotypes  of  the  moon  which  excited  so  great  interest 
in  1851  at  the  Crystal  Palace  exhibition.  There  are  numerous  other  negatives,  well 
deserving  notice,  from  the  I£enwood  observatory  of  Chicago,  and  other  astronomical 
establishments. 

Quite  probably,  before  the  meeting  of  the  Astronomical  congress,  on  August  2ist. 
the  exhibits  will  have  been  considerably  increased  by  specimens  of  recent  work 
brought  with  them  by  the  various  delegates. 

From  information  received  since  the  above  was  written,  we  learn  that  Mr.  Brashear' s 
exhibit  also  contains  two  fine  object-glasses,  one  eighteen  and  the  other  fifteen  inches 
in  diameter  :  also,  that  in  the  Electricity  building,  in  the  exhibit  of  the  German  op- 
ticians, there  are  some  fine  specimens  of  the  new  Jena  optical  glass,  including  a  pair 
of  disks  twenty-three  inches  in  diameter.  There  are  also  a  number  of  object-glasses 
by  Merz,  from  ten  inches  aperture  down,  and  a  considerable  collection  of  small 


620 


THE  PROGRESS  OF  SCIENCE. 


telescopes,  spectroscopes,  etc.,  by  Merz,  Steinheil  and  others.  The  Johns  Hopkins 
university  exhibits  a  number  of  Rowland's  diffraction  gratings  and  his  unrivalled 
photographs  of  solar  and  metallic  spectra.  There  are  also  numerous  other  exhibits 
of  considerable  astronomical  interest,  which  we  have  not  space  to  mention. 

C.  A.  YOUNG. 


WITHIN  the  recollection  of  men  but  little  past  middle  life,  means  of  travel  were 
nowhere  in  advance  of  those  possessed  by  the  most  remote  recorded  antiquity. 
The  chariot  of  English  Elizabeth  was  no  whit  better  than  that  of  Egyptian  Rameses 
three  thousand  years  earlier.  Even  the  seventeenth  century  contrivance  of  carriage 
springs  marked  no  radical  advance.  It  was  during  this  prenatal  period  of  "rapid 
transit  "  that,  as  a  child,  I  witnessed,  in  the  city  of  London,  a  panorama  of  a  strange 
new  contrivance  called  a  "steam  railway,"  said  to  be  in  actual  operation  somewhere 
in  "the  north  countrie."  A  few  j^ears  later,  while  employed  in  one  of  the  great  loco- 
motive shops  of  Lancashire,  I  became  an  eye-witness  of  the  system  in  some  of  its  early 
stages  and  of  the  throng  of  distinguished  visitors.  Among  these,  the  venerable 
astronomer,  Friedrich  Wilhelm  Bessel,  is  well  remembered,  because  it  became  my 
duty  to  condvict  the  measurer  of  astral  spaces  through  the  establishment. 

The  Liverpool  and  Manchester  railway  was  the  work  of  men  who  "  builded  wiser 
than  they  knew."  The  original  scheme  simply  contemplated  the  application  to  a 
public  thoroughfare  of  an  iron  tramway  such  as  long  used  in  mines.  The  type  of  tram 
adopted  required,  indeed,  a  special  form  of  track-wheels,  but  vehicle-propulsion  by 
a  self-contained  power,  was  an  afterthought.  Such  vehicles,  however,  and  such  a 
track  were  soon  found  to  be  essential  complements  of  each  other,  but,  of  the  two,  no 
one  then  thought  that  the  seeminglj7  far  simpler  problem  of  a  perfect  track  would  be 
the  last  to  reach  a  satisfactory  solution. 

Every  traveller  is  aware  of the  annoyances  arising  from  lack  of  continuity  in  the 
track  ;  to  some,  it  has  come  in  the  serious  form  of  impairment  of  vision  or  hearing, 
to  the  railroad  manager  it  means  wear  and  tear  of  rolling  stock  and  of  the  track  itself. 
In  the  incipiency  of  the  system,  the  mills  could  supply  only  short  sections,  and  the 
greater  lengths  since  obtainable,  having  been  accompanied  by  a  corresponding  accel- 
eration of  travel,  the  frequency  of  jolts  due  to  the  still  numerous  and  constantly  de- 
teriorating joints  has  remained  about  the  same.  The  various  expedients  of  bolted 
fish-plates,  chairs,  etc.,  have  proved  only  temporaril)-  effective.  When  the  propo- 
sition of  welding  end-to-end  in  situ  was  first  suggested,  the  objection  was  raised  that 
contraction  after  summer  welding  would  result  in  transverse  fracture,  and  expansion 
after  winter  welding  in  dangerous  lateral  swerving  of  the  track,  but,  in  default  of  any 
then  known  mode  of  welding  in  situ,  these  objections  possessed  no  practical  signifi- 
cance. Inasmuch,  however,  as  under  the  method  now  to  be  described  the  sections 
are  welded  in  situ,  it  may  be  proper  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  now  ascer- 
tained change  of  length  of  a  bar  of  Bessemer  steel  (the  present  material  of  track- rails), 
under  the  greatest  known  range  of  atmospheric  temperature,  being  considerably  less 
than  its  limit  of  elasticity,  no  trouble  is  expected  by  the  projectors,  especially  where, 
as  in  the  present  case,  welding  is  confined  to  the  hottest  months,  and,  therefore,  only 
the  lesser  evil  of  contraction  need  be  considered. 

The  Problem  Solved. — End-to-end  welding  of  the  rail-sections,  coupled  with  perfect 
alignment  has,  at  last,  been  made  possible  by  Professor  Elihu  Thomson's  electric 


THE  PROGRESS  OF  SCIENCE. 


621 


welding  process.  The  application  of  this  invention  to  railway  engineering  is  now 
undergoing  its  first  practical  application  on  the  Harvard  Square  electric  railway  of 
Cambridge,  Mass.,  under  direction  of  the  engineer,  Mr.  Milton  Brown.  As  has  so 
often  been  observed  with  inventions  of  the  first  rank,  the  details  are  extremely 
simple.  Before  application  of  the  welding  apparatus,  the  sides  of  two  abutting  rail- 
sections,  near  their  respective  extremities,  are  scoured  at  four  places,  each  about 
eight  square  inches,  by  means  of  an  emery-wheel  mounted  on  the  end  of  a  flexible 
revolving  shaft,  differing  in  size  only  from  those  which,  it  may  be  feared,  have  already 
been  familiarized  to  the  reader  in  his  dentist's  laboratory.  This  flexible  shaft  is 
rotated  by  a  small  motor  having  electrical  connection  with  the  trolley -wire.  Before 
application  of  the  weld-plates,  any  opening  found  between  the  abutting  sections  is 
closed  by  sheet-iron  plugs.  The  weld-plates,  two  to  each  joint,  consist  of  slabs  of 
mild  Bessemer  steel,  1x4x8  inches.  Against  these  plates  two  copper-faced  jaws 
(cooled  by  currents  of  cold  water)  of  a  powerful  vise  are  brought  to  bear.  A  switch  en- 
ables the  operator  to  include  these  jaws,  together  with  the  rail-sections  and  their  en- 
closing plates,  in  an  electric  circuit.  The  plates  having  been  placed  in  position  and 
the  jaws  made  to  bear  against  them  with  the  desired  pressure,  the  electric  current  is 
turned  on,  and,  accumulating  in  the  relatively  slow-conducting  plates  and  rail-sec- 
tions, these  parts,  in  a  few  seconds,  reach  a  white  heat.  As  the  parts  become  thus 
softened,  the  operator  gradually  increases  the  jaw-pressure.  In  about  three  minutes, 
the  current  being  switched  off,  a  final  squeeze  of  the  still  glowing  metal  completes  and 
solidifies  the  weld.  Where  a  joint  is  found  to  be  in  proper  alignment  this  final 
squeeze  perfects  the  work  for  that  particular  joint,  but,  where  otherwise,  the  opera- 
tor, while  the  parts  are  still  in  the  glowing  and  plastic  condition,  takes  the  oppor- 
tunity thus  afforded  to  bring  them  into  line.  The  red-hot  plates  and  rail-ends  yield 
and  take  new  forms  under  the  swinging  blows  of  a  ponderous  hammer,  but  the  welds 
hold  fast.  The  operation  thus  combines  the  advantage  of  continuity  and  perfect 

alignment.     The  weld-plate,  in  its  horizontal  section,  being  of  i 1  form,  touches  the 

rail-side  only  by  its  two  flanges,  which  become  flattened  against  the  rail  by  the  joint 
action  of  the  heat  and  mechanical  pressure. 

In  the  experiment  noted,  a  continuous  current  of  about  five  hundred  volts  four  hun- 
dred amperes,  is  taken  from  two  trolle}"- wires  into  a  motor-dynamo  on  the  operating  car 
by  which  it  is  converted  into  an  alternating  current  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  volts 
electrical  pressure,  thence,  traversing  a  system  of  induction  coils,  the  electric 
force  becomes  transformed  into  a  current  of  four  volts  fifty  thousand  amperes,  that  is 
to  say,  a  current  of  large  volume  having  just  sufficient  electrical  pressure  to  force  it 
through  the  point  of  contact.  In  the  present  early  stage  of  the  experiment  the  work 
proceeds  at  the  rate  of  about  four  joints  an  hour.  GEORGE  H.  KNIGHT. 


CHEMISTRY 

AT 
THE    FAIR 


A  KNOWLEDGE  of  chemistry  is  undoubtedly  more  essential  to  all  classes  and 
consequently  more  general   than  that   of  any  other  science.     The  hygienic 
requisites  to  reasonable  health  and  comfort  enforce  this  knowledge  upon  all  peoples 
of  whatever  clime,   country  or  condition.      The  greater  the  knowledge  of  the  more 
general  laws  of  chemistry  the  higher  is  the  physical   life  of  the  people.     Chemistry 
is  likewise  the  science  most  generally  and  generously  drawn  upon  by  all  the  learned 
professions  and  liberal  arts. 
These  facts  are  strikingly  illustrated  in  the  exhibits  at  the  Columbian  Fair.     More 


622  THE  PROGRESS  OF  SCIENCE. 

than  three- fourths  of  the  general  departments  represented  at  the  exposition  have 
chemical  laboratories  as  part  of  their  equipment.  In  nearly  all  of  the  buildings  are 
model  laboratories  for  special  purposes,  and  in  all  are  shown  the  results  of  the  practi- 
cal application  of  the  science.  These  applications  are  entirely  too  numerous  for 
any  attempt  at  general  mention  in  this  place  ;  indeed,  such  mention  would  include  a 
large  proportion  of  the  arts  and  industries  whose  products  are  shown  at  the  Fair  and 
which  are  seen  on  every  side. 

While  chemistry  could  not  be  expected  to  prepare  new  bodies  especially  for  the 
Fair,  it  may  be  interesting  to  note  that  the  Johns  Hopkins  university  has  on  exhibi- 
tion a  series  of  such  bodies  which  have,  at  different  times,  been  isolated  at  that  in- 
stitution. Among  the  exhibits  of  the  Mining  building  the  curious  will  find  many  of 
the  rarer  elementary  bodies,  such  as  will  never  be  seen,  except  by  specialists,  out- 
side of  show-cases.  Among  these  may  be  mentioned  silicon,  boron,  osmium,  iridium, 
ruthenium  and  palladium.  Along  with  these  is  shown,  by  a  London  firm,  a  single 
appliance  of  chemistry,  made  of  platinum,  for  concentrating  sulphuric  acid,  which  is 
valued  at  over  fourteen  thousand  dollars,  and  which  is  capable  of  concentrating  thir- 
teen tons  of  acid  in  twenty-four  hours.  In  the  same  building  may  also  be  seen  con- 
siderable quantities  of  the  valuable  metal  aluminum,  becoming  constantly  more  im- 
portant because  of  its  increasing  cheapness. 

Perhaps  the  most  remarkable  and  valuable  Columbian  contribution  to  the  science 
of  chemistry  is  a  volume  bearing  the  title,  "  A  Select  Bibliography  of  Chemistry,  1492 
to  1892."  It  is  the  work  of  Professor  Henry  Carrington  Bolton,  already  widely 
known  to  the  scientific  world  through  his  previous  researches  and  writings,  and  now 
president  of  the  New  York  Academy  of  Sciences.  The  book  is  shown  in  the  model 
library  exhibited  by  the  Bureau  of  Education  in  the  Government  building. 

It  contains  the  titles  of  the  principal  books  on  chemistry  published  from  the  rise 
of  the  literature  to  the  end  of  the  year  1892,  and  embraces  over  twelve  thousand  titles 
in  twenty-four  languages.  It  will  be  of  great  value  to  librarians  as  well  as  to  chemists. 

This  portly  octavo  of  1212  pages  forms  Vol.  xxxvi  of  the  Smithsonian  Miscellane- 
ous collections.  S.  E.  TILLMAN,  COLONEL  U.S.A. 

*  #  •£ 

DIAMONDS   AT   THE   FAIR. 

ONE  of  the  most  attractive  exhibits  in  the  Mining  building  is  that  of  South 
African  diamonds.  Here  one  may  see  not  merely  the  familiar  finished  gem, 
but  the  process  of  cutting  ;  and  not  merely  the  uncut  stones,  but  lumps  of  dark  rock 
from  which  large,  more  or  less  well-formed  crystals  of  diamond  protrude  like  pieces 
of  citron  from  a  fruit  pudding.  This  rock  is  a  very  basic  one  of  eruptive  origin 
( peridotite  or  a  closely  allied  rock),  and  the  diamonds  are  porphyritic  constituents 
which  probably  reached  their  full  size  before  the  molten  mass  started  upon  its  journey 
toward  the  surface.  The  precise  depth  from  which  eruptive  rocks  reach  the  surface 
is  not  known,  but  that  the  distance  is  a  considerable  number  of  miles  no  one  doubts. 
It  is  scarcely  possible  that  it  should  be  so  little  as  ten  miles  and  is  probabl3'  nearer 
twenty.  In  either  case  the  eruptives  originated  below  the  stratified  rocks  of  sedimen- 
tary origin,  and  therefore  the  carbon  of  which  these  diamonds  are  formed  is  not  de- 
rived from  vegetable  or  animal  matter.  On  the  contrary  it  must  be  furnished  by 
subterranean  supplies  of  the  element  which  have  never  entered  into  organic  structures. 
The  diamond  has  also  been  found  in  meteoric  iron  from  Diablo  canon,  Arizona,  in 
the  form  of  small  grains,  which  display  all  the  physical  and  chemical  properties  of 
the  gem.  These  meteorites  contain  some  carbon,  too,  in  another  form,  namely,  in  imion 
with  iron  and  nickel.  This  is  the  same  way  in  which  carbon  exists  in  the  nickel- 
steel  now  being  manufactured  for  armor-plates,  and  it  is  never  absent  from  the  me- 
tallic meteorites  in  this  form.  Metallic  iron,  again,  has  in  some  cases  reached  the  sur- 
face of  the  earth  embedded  in  basic  eruptions  containing,  like  peridotite,  a  mineral 
called  olivine,  also  known  in  meteorites.  Now,  since  diamonds,  metallic  iron  and 
olivine  are  all  interterrestrial  substances  and  all  also  meteoric  constituents,  it  is  ex- 
tremely probable  that  portions  at  least  of  the  earth's  interior  are  similar  in  composi- 


THE  PROGRESS  OF  SCIENCE.  623 

tion  to  the  meteorites.  The  great  average  density  of  the  earth,  five  and  a  half  times 
that  of  water,  would  be  quite  intelligible  if  one  were  to  assume  that  it  consisted  in 
great  part  of  nickel-steel  like  so  many  of  the  meteorites. 

Real  translucent  diamonds  have  been  artificially  produced  by  Mr.  Henri  Moissan, 
whose  method  was  stated  in  the  July  Cosmopolitan.  GEORGE  F.  BECKER. 


AN 
ELECTRIC 
COMPARI- 
SON. 


HOW  rapid  the  development  of  the  electrical  arts  has  been  within  the  past  few 
years  may  be  seen  by  comparing  the  electrical  exhibits  at  the  Centennial  ex- 
hibition in  Philadelphia,  in  1876,  with  those  at  the  Columbian  exposition  now  at 
Chicago.  Then,  electrical  apparatus  consisted  mostly  of  telegraphic  devices,  gal- 
vanic batteries,  static  machines,  ley  den  jars,  etc.,  for  school  illustrations  and  measur- 
ing instruments  such  as  galvanometers  and  resistance  coils.  There  were  a  few  crude 
dynamos  and  one  small  imported  Gramme  machine,  none  of  them  intended  to  main- 
tain more  than  one  arc  light.  Now,  there  is  rivalry  for  space  in  which  to  exhibit 
dynamos  capable  of  lighting  fifty  or  more  in  one  circuit. 

Then,  there  was  not  a  single  incandescent  lamp  in  the  world.  Now,  they  are  to  be 
seen  by  the  tens  of  thousands  and  with  all  degrees  of  brightness  from  that  of  a  tallow 
dip  to  those  but  little  inferior  to  the  arc  itself,  and  every  exhibit  is  thus  lighted. 

Then,  there  was  not  a  single  electrical  motor  that  was  more  than  a  toy  to  be  run  by 
a  galvanic  cell.  Now,  motors  for  all  kinds  of  service  from  driving  a  fan  to  those  run- 
ning printing-presses,  looms,  machine  shops,  and  threatening  the  existence  of  the 
locomotive  itself. 

Then,  all  welding  was  done  by  hammering  at  the  forge.  Now,  electricity  heats  the 
ends  to  be  joined  and  in  less  time  than  it  takes  to  describe  the  process,  heavy  shafts 
and  rails  may  be  welded  even  better  than  was  possible  before.  Then,  it  was  not  pos- 
sible to  weld  steel  or  other  metals  than  iron.  Now,  almost  any  metal  may  be  electri- 
cally welded  to  another  as  easily  as  iron  to  iron. 

Then,  there  were  induction  coils  for  producing  sparks  a  few  inches  long.  Now,  such 
sparks  have  been  made  five  feet  long  and  it  is  believed  could  be  made  fifty  feet  long 
if  it  were  worth  the  while.  Then,  induction  coils  were  employed  only  for  changing 
low  potentials  to  higher.  Now,  the  transformer  reverses  the  process  and  makes  elec- 
tric lighting  feasible  miles  away  from  the  dynamo. 

Then,  it  was  possible  to  send  but  two  telegraphic  messages  in  opposite  directions 
simultaneously.  Now,  seventy-two  messages  can  be  sent,  thirty-six  in  each  direction, 
on  one  wire  without  interference.  Then,  the  telephone  was  first  exhibited  on  a  line 
the  length  of  a  building.  Now,  one  can  talk  with  another  a  thousand  miles  away. 

Then,  it  was  believed  that  a  continuous  conductor  was  essential  for  doing  any  kind 
of  electrical  work.  Now,  it  is  shown  that  all  kinds  of  such  work  may  be  done  without 
material  connections. 

Then,  it  was  thought  that  light  was  one  of  the  physical  forces.  Now,  it  is  believed 
that  light  is  an  electro- magnetic  wave. 

Then,  it  was  believed  and  taught  that  electricity  could  never  be  economically  em- 
ployed for  driving  machinery  and  that  its  light  could  not  be  subdivided.  Now,  it  is 
believed  that  electricity  is  in  its  infancy. 

Then,  all  the  electrical  exhibit  could  be  put  in  a  space  fifty  feet  square.  Now,  a 
huge  building,  covering  acres,  is  found  insufficient  for  the  needs  of  exhibitors. 

All  this  since  '76.  A.  E.  DOLBEAR. 


OSE  LOPEZ  was 
standing  ankle- 
deep  in  the  sand 
beside  his  lamed  pony,  swinging  his 
sombrero  back  and  forth  by  his  side 
and  swearing  in  a  rich,  sonorous  mellif- 
luous strain  which  swept  on  and  on  as 
uninterruptedly  as  the  winds  ranged  over 
the  plains.  Introduction  :  andante,  pianis- 
simo—a soft-voiced  appeal  to  some  of  the 
lesser  saints  of  his  calendar  to  stand  by 
and  see  fair  play.  Opening  strain  :  a 
creditably  performed  presto  movement  in 
good,  short,  stout  oaths,  serving  to  inspire 
the  performer  with  confidence  and  to  ac- 
quaint the  listener  with  the  theme  of  the 
composition  in  its  simplest  expression  ; 
then  theme  in  octaves,  allegro  ftirioso, 
with  elaborate  appoggiatura  effects,  drift- 
ing in  the  third  strain  into  a  short  fugue 
movement,  difficult  of  execution  and 
bringing  the  perspiration  in  beads  ;  then, 
finale,  a  mighty  crescendo,  woven  close 
with  sweeping  arpeggios — an  unreserved 
condemnation  of  all  things  earthly  to  an 
eternity  of  existence  in  a  very  lurid  and 
real  perdition  of  unimaginable  horrors. 

When  he  had  done,  and  was  panting 
for  breath,  he  made  his  pony  limp  a  few 
steps  along  the  trail.  It  was  of  no  use  ; 
the  beast  was  hopelessly  lame,  and  there 
was  nothing  in  Jose's  immediate  future  but 
a  weary  march  of  ten  miles  on  foot  over 


the  sinuous  dusty  trail  which  stretched 
out  ahead  of  him,  a  streak  of  brown 
desolation,  toward  Socorro.  So,  with  a 
final  brief  anathema  upon  the  head  of  the 
prairie-dog  wrhich  would  dig  a  burrow  in 
the  middle  of  a  trail,  and  upon  the  awk- 
wardness of  the  pony  which  would  blindly 
thrust  his  foot  into  it,  he  threw  the  bridle 
rein  over  his  arm,  gave  a  fierce  hitch  to  his 
buckskin  trousers  and  took  up  his  walk. 
The  mere  circumstance  of  walking  was 
bad  enough  in  the  abstract,  for  he  was 
possessed  of  an  infinite  capacity  for  ease. 
But  that  was  not  the  worst  of  it  ;  tomor- 
row was  the  day  of  the  correr  el  gallo, 
with  the  fandango  in  the  evening.  It 
was  in  honor  of  that  that  he  had  attired 
himself  in  his  best  buckskin  and  his  sil- 
vered sombrero  and  was  going  on  this 
pilgrimage.  And  now  in  the  game  he 
would  have  to  ride  a  strange  pony,  one 
unaccustomed  to  the  work  perhaps  ;  there 
was  no  dependence  to  be  placed  upon  the 
temper  of  a  strange  pony  :  it  might  mean 
defeat  in  the  game,  and  ignominy  in  the 
sight  of  Florita  Espalda.  Ah  !  Florita 
Espalda  was  the  attraction  to  Socorro,  and 
not  the  correr — a  curse  upon  the  breakneck 
game ;  he  would  not  have  stirred  a  step  but 
for  the  hope  of  seeing  her  and  winning  a 
mark  of  her  favor — a  smile  or  a  glance  or 
some  sign  of  her  pleasure  when  she  should 
bow  acceptance  of  the  token  of  his  valor. 


JOSE:   A    TALE   OF  OLD  SOCORRO. 


625 


Was  there  ever  so  fair  a  senorita  ?  Even 
now,  when  he  half  closed  his  own  lids,  he 
could  see  the  glorious  languid  eyes,  the 
round  throat  and  the  oval  face,  and  he 
swore  a  soft  little  oath  of  simple  ecstacy. 
But  that  died  away  unfinished,  before  a 
sharp  spasm  of  jealous  fear.  It  was  a 
month  since  he  had  seen  her  —  a  whole 
month.  What  might  not  have  happened 
in  a  month  ?  When  they  had  parted  he 
had  held  her  little  fingers  for  an  instant — 
long  enough  to  carry  them  passionately 
to  his  lips.  But  a  month  !  The  lips  of  a 
dozen  lovers  might  have  kissed  her  hand  : 
the  right  might  no  longer  be  his. 

But  even  the  passion  of  love  or  the  pangs 
of  jealousy  will  take  on  a  secondary  im- 
portance under  present  pressing  physical 
discomfort,  and  it  was  a  mighty  discomfort 
to  lift  the  dead  weight  of  his  feet  through 
mile  after  mile  of  yielding  dry  sand  under 
a  broiling  sun,  with  nothing  to  relieve  the 
monotony  but  the  interminable  red  hills 
and  the  patches  of  cactus  and  sage-brush, 
reduced  to  the  same  tiresome  color  by 
their  coat  of  yellow  dust.  They  did  not 
relieve  the  monotony  ;  they  only  served 
as  accent  and  punctuation  marks.  At 
last  the  red  sun  went  down  behind  the 
low  range  to  the  westward,  with  Jose's 
blessing  vipon  it,  and  the  outer  confines 
of  the  dreary  landscape  grew  confused 
and  indistinct  under  the  gathering  dark- 
ness, the  circle  of  shadows  narrowing 
closer  and  closer  about  him  until  he  could 
only  see  the  trail  with  difficult}'.  Then 
the  moon  came  up,  blood-red,  looking 
tired  and  hot,  too,  and  kept  him  company 
on  the  last  mile  of  his  walk,  until  he 
reached  Socorro  and  became  one  of  the 
roisterers  upon  the  plaza,  who  were  drink- 
ing themselves  into  a  state  of  proper  en- 
thusiasm for  the  festivities  of  the  morrow. 

When  a  Spaniard  unbends,  he  grows 
thirsty  ;  it  is  a  natural  sequence.  Thirst, 
fathomless  and  unquenchable,  had  pos- 
session of  every  human  soul  upon  the 
plaza.  No  one  tried  to  disguise  it ;  no 
one  pretended  to  satiate  it ;  what  the}' 
drank  only  teased  and  irritated  it  to  a  more 
vigorous  expression  of  itself.  Jose  drank 
too.  Again  that  fair  round-throated  vision 
rose  before  his  eyes  ;  the  pulque  had  dis- 
pelled his  fears  as  it  warmed  his  blood. 
He  pronounced  her  name,  and  bade  his 
friends  drink  with  him  to  his  success. 

"  There  is  need  to  drink  to  thy  success 


in  strong  liquor,"  one  of  the  revellers 
said,  with  lips  smiling  over  the  rim  of  his 
glass.  There  was  a  question  in  Jose's 
eyes,  half  closed,  menacing,  and  in  the 
poised  hand  with  its  glass  of  pulque. 

"  Thy  sefiorita  has  not  suffered  of  lone- 
liness," the  other  explained;  "Only  to- 
day I  saw  her,  forgetful  of  propriety,  walk- 
ing under  the  cottonwoods  with  a  seiior 
Atnericano,  and  she  listened  to  him  will- 
ingly. He  is  entered  for  the  correr  to- 
morrow, too,  and  if  he  wins,  I  doubt  not 
she  will  wear  his  favor." 

"Caramba!"  Jose  burst  forth.  "A 
senor  Americano  !  And  she  looks  at  him  ! 
She  shall  see  !  And  he  is  entered  for  the 
correr  ?  It  is  well ;  she  shall  see.  Drink  ! 
Drink!"  The  poised  glass  went  to  the 
lips  and  the  narrowed  eyes  widened.  He 
shared  a  common  contempt  for  los  Ameri- 
canos. He  had  soon  drunk  himself  into 
forgetfulness  of  the  despised  dog  of  a 
gringo. 

*        *        # 

Upon  the  northern  side  of  the  pictur- 
esque sunlit  plaza  which  formed  the  cen- 
ter of  life  in  the  village  of  Socorro,  there 
opened  a  narrow,  winding  adobe-walled 
lane,  its  snake-like  course  cast  into  deep 
grateful  shade  by  the  interlaced  branches 
of  the  giant  cottonwoods  growing  in  the 
yards  and  courts  upon  either  side.  Here 
and  there  throughout  its  length  rude 
seats  of  stone  or  hewn  timbers  were  placed, 
wooing  the  idle  Spaniard  It  was  the  one 
cool  retreat  in  the  village  from  the  persis- 
tent desolating  glare  of  the  southern  sun. 

John  Vannerson  was  keenly  alive  to  the 
charms  of  the  place  as  he  loitered  among 
the  shadows  that  August  afternoon,  with 
the  warm  breath  of  the  valley  air  stirring 
in  the  cottonwoods  and  fanning  his  bared 
head.  He  was  still  more  keenly  alive  to 
the  delicate  charms  of  the  companionship 
of  Florita  Espalda,  the  dark-eyed  sefiorita, 
the  belle  of  every  village  fandango,  who 
sat  upon  the  bench  beside  him  listening, 
with  kindling  color  and  dainty  deliciously 
natural  coquetry,  to  his  speeches  in  badly 
muddled  Spanish.  She  too  was  charmed ; 
her  lovers  had  been  of  the  fiery,  compelling 
Spanish  type  hitherto  ;  she  had  known 
nothing  of  the  winning  ingenious  gentle- 
ness of  the  Yankee  lover,  who  pleaded  in- 
stead of  commanding.  And  John  him- 
self, with  his  sturdy  Saxon  height,  laugh- 
ing blue  eyes  and  fair  hair,  was  so  differ- 

40 


626 


JOSE:   A    TALE   OF  OLD  SOCORRO. 


ent  a  man.  And  .so  she  listened,  with  her 
pretty  head  bent,  with  round  bared  arms 
crossed  in  her  lap,  with  brown  bosom  ris- 
ing and  falling  gently  under  the  folds  of 
the  loose  mantilla,  while  John  Vannerson 
talked.  It  was  this  that  Juan  Pino,  Jose's 

friend,  had  seen.     Poor  Jose  ! 

•*        *        # 

In  their  parlance  the  next  day  was  a 
"saint's  da}7,"  although  it  might  have 
puzzled  the  saint — whoever  he  was — to 
discover  just  what  part  he  had  in  it.  An 
extra  candle  or  two  burned  in  the  little 
adobe  church,  and  the  wrinkled  old  men 
and  withered  women  who  knelt  about 
upon  the  earthen  floor  were  somewhat 
more  gaily  attired  and  a  trifle  more  pre- 
cise in  their  prayers  than  was  common, 
but  other  signs  were  wanting. 

Outside  the  church,  in  the  warm  air,  all 
was  life  and  fervid  activity.  Age  was  the 
dominant  element  among  the  worshippers ; 
youth  was  in  the  ascendant  without — 
pretty  speech,  softly  intoned  laughter  and 
shy  juggling  tricks  of  the  dark  eyes.  The 
wide  plaza  was  all  aglow  with  its  gay 
decking  of  green  branches,  colored  rib- 
bons and  mantillas,  and  brave  with  holi- 
day trappings  of  men  and  ponies.  Even 
the  low  red  hills  which  hedged  them  in 
were  not  altogether  unlovely  today. 

A  shout,  a  gay  babbling  of  many 
tongues  and  a  scattering  of  the  multitude 
toward  the  center  of  the  plaza  disturbed 
the  slow  noon.  It  was  the  beginning  of 
the  game — the  correr  el  gallo.  An  im- 
pressive figure  in  jeweled  sombrero  and 
brilliant  scrape  stood  apart  from  the 
others,  urging  them  to  listen.  Under  his 
arm  he  carried  a  finely  plumed  barnyard 
cock,  which  jerked  its  head  about  with 
many  chucklings  of  surprise.  He  of  the 
brilliant  serape  declared  the  rules.  The 
bird,  with  neck  well  greased,  would  be 
buried  in  the  earth  so  that  nothing  but 
the  head  and  neck  remained  in  sight ;  the 
contestants  would  mount,  retire  to  the 
further  end  cf  the  plaza,  fifty  yards  away, 
and  as  each  one's  name  was  called  he 
would  strike  his  pony  into  a  gallop, 
charge  upon  the  unlucky  fowl,  throw 
himself  upon  his  animal's  side,  and  en- 
deavor to  seize  the  bird's  head  in  his 
hand,  and  tear  it  from  the  body  or  lift  the 
body  from  the  earth.  This  done,  the  suc- 
cessful sportsman  was  at  liberty  to  present 
a  bit  of  the  plumage  to  his  chosen  lady, 


as  a  token  of  esteem,  and  if  accepted  she 
would  wear  it  at  the  dance  in  the  evening, 
as  a  mark  of  her  favor.  It  was  soon  ar- 
ranged :  then  the  master  of  ceremonies 
had  a  hole  made  in  the  earth  of  the  court, 
where  the  bird  was  buried,  too  much  sur- 
prised now  to  do  aught  but  blink  his 
round  eyes  helplessly. 

Jose  was  mounted,  as  he  had  feared, 
upon  a  strange  pony,  a  beast  of  pure  white 
with  trappings  of  yellow.  Vannerson  had 
a  sturdy  bay.  Upon  the  breast  of  his 
shirt  he  wore  a  tiny  knot  of  ribbon.  The 
furtive  e}"es  of  the  Mexican,  measuring 
the  lithe  figure,  detected  this  fleck  of 
color  and  his  brow  lowered.  Florita  wore 
ribbon  of  the  same  hue  in  her  dark  hair. 
There  was  a  dangerous  light  in  his  glance 
now,  but  Vannerson  was  innocent  and 
calm.  Twice  in  the  morning  Jos6  had 
sought  Florita ;  twice  he  bad  found  her 
and  the  mad  re  with  John  Vannerson.  His 
nervous  fingers  toyed  with  his  belt  and 
his  sensuous  lips  were  compressed  and 
colorless. 

"Ready!"  the  master  of  ceremonies 
called,  and  the  contestants  grouped  them- 
selves in  their  place,  waiting. 

"Manuel  Espejo  !  "  It  was  the  name 
of  him  who  stood  first  upon  the  list.  A 
bit  of  a  lad,  hardly  out  of  his  teens,  struck 
spurs  into  his  pony  and  leaped  forward. 
He  was  but  a  novice  ;  he  went  wide  of  the 
mark,  but  the  crowd  cheered  his  effort. 

"Carlos  Baca  !  "  The  second  had  no 
better  success,  nor  the  third,  nor  the 
fourth  ;  then  the  fifth  succeeded  in  grasp- 
ing the  hapless  bird's  head  lightly,  but  it 
slipped  through  his  fingers. 

At  last,  « '  Jose  Lopez  !  "  A  sharp  stroke 
of  the  heels,  and  Jose  was  away.  He  was 
a  bold  rider,  and  the  fire  of  determination 
burned  in  his  heart  and  shone  out  of  his 
eyes.  But  a  prairie-dog  had  dug  a  burrow 
in  the  trail  back  there  on  the  plains  ;  upon 
such  little  things  do  events  hang.  With 
cool  courage  Jose  threw  himself  down 
upon  the  pony's  side  and  stretched  out 
his  eager  hand,  but  the  beast  was  not  used 
to  the  correr.  He  shied  nervousl}-  out  of 
his  path,  reared,  and  Jose  sprawled  in  the 
3*ellow  dust  of  the  plaza,  while  the  gay 
throng  laughed.  He  picked  himself  up 
and  limped  away,  furious 

' '  Juan  Gonzales  ! ' '  But  Juan  was  luck- 
less. Then,  "  El senor  Americano,  Juan 
Vanareson  !  " 


JOSE;   A    TALE   OF  OLD  SOCORRO. 


627 


The  bay  was  off  like  a  shot,  and  in  a 
moment  the  assembly  was  cheering  gen- 
erously. John  swung  himself  from  the 
saddle,  his  sinewy  hand  closed  about 
the  neck  of  the  buried  fowl  and  lifted  it 
bodily  from  its  place  and  waved  it  high  in 
the  air. 

He  clipped  a  dozen  feathers  from  the 
cock's  bright  plumage,  then  loosed  him, 
squawking.  With  bridle  rein  over  his 
arm  he  walked  to  Florita  and  knelt  before 
her. 

"Will  you  wear  these  for  me?"  he 
asked,  and  her  pretty  hand  thrust  the 
feathers  into  the  fine  masses  of  soft  hair 

coiled  upon  her  head. 

#        *        * 

"  Drink  !  Drink  !  "  Jose  and  his  friend, 
Juan  Pjno,  sat  together  through  the  after- 
noon in  a  small  room  back  of  one  of  the 
saloons.  "Drink  !  Drink  !"  was  Jose's 
constant  plea,  and  Juan  drank.  Why  not  ? 
JosS  was  paying,  and  the  wine  was  rich 
and  warm  and  cheered  his  heart.  For 
hours  they  had  sat  together  thus,  drink- 
ing now  and  again,  until  Juan  was  well 
mellowed.  When  Jose  saw  that  his  eyes 
were  dancing  and  heard  his  loosened 
tongue  wagging,  he  drew  his  chair  close 
to  the  other  and  bent  forward,  whispering 
impressively.  Did  you  ever  know  that 
whispers  will  inspire  attention  and  con- 
fidence where  thunders  would  fail  ?  "Juan, 
brother  of  my  soul,"  he  began,  and  Juan's 
tongue  ceased  its  din  :  "We  have  always 
been  friends  ;  is  it  not  .so? " 

"Always,  my  Jose — always,  "Juan  re- 
turned, warmly — a  warmth  bred  of  Jose's 
wine. 

' '  And  now  I  have  that  to  ask  which 
will  show  thy  love  of  me.  Drink  ! 
Drink!"  and  he  filled  his  companion's 
glass  with  the  dusky  liquor.  Juan  lifted 
it  to  his  lips  ;  it  was  ripe  and  fragrant. 

"Ask  what  thou  wilt  !  "  he  cried,  wip- 
ing the  beads  of  wine  from  his  moustache, 
"  ask  what  thou  wilt." 

"Softly,  softly!"  Jose  warned  in  his 
most  winning  whisper  ;  "  it  is  of  vast  im- 
port and  none  must  hear.  I  shall  not  ask 
it  of  thee  for  mere  friendship's  sake  ;  I 
have  gold  to  give  thee  too,  if  it  is  well 
done,"  and  he  held  some  shining  pieces  in 
his  hand.  Juan's  eyes  glistened ;  the 
world  was  not  a  bed  of  roses  for  him  ;  his 
couch  was  commonly  the  hard  ground  of 
the  mesa,  among  his  few  sheep.  A  piece 


of  gold  was  an  unaccustomed  sight.  Juan 
extended  his  hand  and  locked  it  in  that 
of  his  friend.  "I  am  thine,"  he  said, 
"  thou  hast  but  to  command." 

'.'  It  is  well,"  Jose  answered  ;  "  I  knew 
I  should  not  ask  amiss.  Thou  hast  seen 
my  deep  love  of  the  seiiorita  Florita,  and 
thou  hast  seen  the  greater  success  of  the 
dog  of  an  Americano.  Caramba  !  it  makes 
my  blood  boil  in  my  veins  !  He  has  won 
the  correr,  and  she  has  taken  his  favor 
and  tonight  she  will  wear  it  in  the  dance. 
Is  it  not  enough  ?  But  she  does  not  love 
him,  think  3*ou  ?  She  is  only  charmed  by 
his  big  bod\-  and  his  blue  eyes.  She  loved 
meonce,  andDios  !  she  must  love  me  again! 
It  is  this  that  I  ask  of  thee ;  here  is  liquor 
— drink.drinkwhatthouwiltandstrength- 
en  thy  heart.  Then  tonight,  at  the  dance, 
thou  must  find  cause  to  quarrel  with  this 
dog.  It  will  be  easy,  for  I  have  seen  him 
drinking  today,  too.  Thou  must  have  thy 
knife  convenient  —  dost  thou  compre- 
hend ?  "  His  narrowed  eyes  were  search- 
ing his  friend's  face;  the  coins  chinking 
in  his  hands  were  speaking  eloquently. 
Juan  smiled,  nodding  and  draining  his 
glass. 

"It  is  so  simple,"  he  said  ;  "  I  wonder 
that  thou  hast  need  to  ask  it  of  another. ' ' 

Jose's  face  brightened.  < '  Ah  !  "  he  said, 
"  thou  forgettest  that  the  seiiorita  will  be 
there  ;  it  must  not  be  my  quarrel  with  the 
Americano ;  it  must  not  be  my  knife,  or 
she  will  not  look  upon  me  again.  It  is 

well.     Drink  !  Drink  !" 

#         -x         •* 

By  ten  in  the  night  the  fandango  was 
well  a-going  ;  the  low-ceiled  wide  room 
was  stifling  with  the  smoke  of  the  lights, 
but  through  the  sultry  air  sounded  the 
ceaseless,  throbbing,  palpitating  music  of 
guitars  and  mandolins,  and  no  foot  could 
be  still.  Even  the  shriveled  dames  and 
men  seated  in  the  corners,  out  of  the  way 
of  the  dancers,  trod  in  quaint  rliythm 
with  their  old  feet,  and  here  and  there  a 
faint  color  came  into  the  hueless  cheeks, 
beneath  the  strangely  bright  eyes. 

Florita  was  the  gayest  of  all,  and  the 
most  beautiful.  She  had  no  charms  but 
were  shown  tonight,  as  she  danced  with 
Vannerson,  smiled  upon  Vannerson,  co- 
quetted with  Vannerson,  until  his  sus- 
ceptible Yankee  heart  burned  and  glowed, 
and  Jose,  watching  with  eager  eyes,  mis- 
took the  flush  upon  the  blonde  cheeks  for 


628 


THE  STRONGHOLD   OF   THE   GODS. 


the  work  of  the  wine,  which  flowed  with- 
out limit.  He  thought  that  Juan's  quar- 
rel would  be  easy. 

Then  there  came  a  brief  lull  in  the  hum 
of  the  music,  and  John  sat  apart,  alone, 
with  head  bared  to  the  grateful  air  enter- 
ing through  a  low  window.  He  had  left 
Florita's  side,  but  his  eyes  were  still 
upon  her,  seated  over  on  the  woman's 
side  of  the  wide  room.  He  saw  her 
leave  her  place  and  cross  toward  him, 
laughing  shyly,  her  hands  hidden  be- 
neath her  mantilla.  She  paused  before 
him  for  a  brief  instant,  quickly  re- 
leased her  hands  and  dashed  upon  his 
head  a  beribboned  egg  shell,  which  burst 
and  threw  over  him  a  spray  of  delicate 
perfume.  It  was  a  direct  challenge: 
he  must  catch  her  before  she  regained 
her  seat ;  then  he  might  kiss  her.  He 
was  quick  to  move  ;  his  long  legs  were 
agile,  and  midway  on  the  floor  his  arm 
encircled  her  and  the  merry  spectators 
cheered  the  sounding  kiss  upon  the  brown 
cheek.  They  were  in  gay  humor ;  they 
would  have  cheered  the  appearance  of 
the  evil  one,  had  he  come  with  some 
fresh  diversion. 

Then,  in  the  midst  of  the  throng,  Juan, 
inflamed,  passionate  with  wine,  brushed 
rudely  against  the  American.  It  was  a 
studied  insult  which  he  muttered  under 
his  breath.  He  saw  that  there  was  no 
knife  or  pistol  at  Vannerson's  belt,  and 


he  felt  quite  safe.  He  had  forgotten  that 
the  great  American  fist  is  sometimes  a 
most  effective  weapon  ;  he  only  remem- 
bered it  when  he  lay  sprawling  upon 
the  floor,  with  a  deep  cut  over  his  eye. 
He  was  up  again  like  an  infuriated 
beast,  with  long,  slender  knife  bared 
in  his  hand.  Vannerson,  unarmed,  await- 
ed the  savage  rush,  then  stepped  aside, 
thinking  to  avoid  the  knife  and  grasp 
his  fiery  little  antagonist  in  his  sinewy 
arms  and  deprive  him  of  his  weapon. 
Juan,  maddened  with  his  long  carouse, 
furious  under  the  ignominy  of  his  floor- 
ing, blinded  with  the  blood  which  flowed 
from  the  cut  on  his  forehead,  did  not 
see  what  was  done  ;  he  only  knew  that 
he  had  leaped  forward,  writhing  his 
arms  and  legs  about  the  figure  of  the 
man  who  stood  in  his  path,  and  then — 
once — twice — he  sent  the  slender  blade 
deep  into  the  breast  of  his  victim. 

' '  Juan  !  Mother  of  God  !  "  It  was  a 
long,  shrill  wail  of  agony,  but  Juan  knew 
the  voice. 

"  Jos6  !  "  He  brushed  the  blood  from 
his  blinded  eyes  and  bent  over  the  pros- 
trate man  :  ' '  Jose  !  Jose  !  Look  at  me  ! 
God  in  heaven,  what  have  I  done  !  Jose, 
brother  of  my  soul,  speak  to  me  !  " 

But  there  was  only  a  gasping  sigh, 
and  the  ^dsses^&x  awed  revellers 


loo  k  e  d 
glazed  in 


eyes 


THE   STRONGHOLD   OF  THE   GODS. 

BY  JOHN  VANCE  CHENEY. 

HERE,    in  this  monastery  of  the  rock, 

Be  mine  the  kingly  comfort  of  a  soul 

At  peace.     In  stronghold  of  the  gods'  control 

I  rest,  well-sheltered  ;  safe  against  the  shock 

Of  change,  against  the  horrors  all  that  knock 

At  hope's  lone  door.     Here  life  is  sweet  and  whole, 

As  Heaven  means  it  ;    doubt  is  not,  no  dole, 

Pain's  bony  finger  cannot  break  this  lock. 

The  stanchest  monarch  never  wore  this  crown  ; 

High  on  the  hilltop,    trouble  lies  far  down. 


IS   HE   LIVING   OR   IS   HE   DEAD  ? 


BY  MARK  TWAIN. 


I  WAS  spending  the  month  of  March, 
1892,  at  Mentone,  in  the  Riviera. 
At  this  retired  spot  one  has  all  the  ad- 
vantages privately,  which  are  to  be  had  at 
Monte  Carlo  and  Nice,  a  few  miles  further 
along,  publicly.  That  is  to  say,  one  has 
the  flooding  sunshine,  the  balmy  air  and 
the  brilliant  blue  sea,  without  the  marring 
additions  of  human  pow-wow  and  fuss 
and  feathers  and  display.  Mentone  is 
quiet,  simple,  restful,  unpretentious  ;  the 
rich  and  the  gaudy  do  not  come  there. 
As  a  rule,  I  mean,  the  rich  do  not  come 
there.  Now  and  then  a  rich  man  comes, 
and  I  presently  got  acquainted  with  one 
of  these.  Partially  to  disguise  him,  I  will 
call  him  Smith.  One  day,  in  the  Hotel 
des  Anglais,  at  the  second  breakfast,  he 
exclaimed  : 

1 '  Quick  !  Cast  your  eye  on  the  man  go- 
ing out  at  the  door.  Take  in  every  detail 
of  him." 

"Why?" 

1 '  Do  you  know  who  he  is  ?  " 

"  Yes.  He  spent  several  days  here  be- 
fore you  came.  He  is  an  old,  retired  and 
very  rich  silk  manufacturer  from  Lyons, 
they  say,  and  I  guess  he  is  alone  in  the 
world,  for  he  always  looks  sad  and 
dreamy,  and  doesn't  talk  with  anybody. 
His  name  is  Theophile  Magnan." 


I  supposed  that  Smith  would  now  pro- 
ceed to  justify  the  large  interest  which  he 
had  shown  in  Monsieur  Magnan,  but,  in- 
stead, he  dropped  into  a  brown  study,  and 
was  apparently  lost  to  me  and  to  the  rest 
of  the  world  during  some  minutes.  Now 
and  then  he  passed  his  fingers  through 
his  flossy  white  hair,  to  assist  his  think- 
ing, and  meantime  he  allowed  his  break- 
fast to  go  on  cooling.  At  last  he  said  : 

"  No,  it's  gone  ;   I  can't  call  it  back." 

"  Can't  call  what  back  ?  " 

"  It's  one  of  Hans  Andersen's  beautiful 
little  stories.  But  it's  gone  from  me. 
Part  of  it  is  like  this  :  A  child  has  a  caged 
bird,  which  it  loves,  but  thoughtlessly 
neglects.  The  bird  pours  out  its  song 
unheard  and  unheeded ;  but,  in  time, 
hunger  and  thirst  assail  the  creature,  and 
its  song  grows  plaintive  and  feeble  and 
finally  ceases — the  bird  dies.  The  child 
comes,  and  is  smitten  to  the  heart  with 
remorse  ;  then,  with  bitter  tears  and  lam- 
entations, it  calls  its  mates,  and  they 
bury  the  bird  with  elaborate  pomp  and 
the  tenderest  grief,  without  knowing, 
poor  things,  that  it  isn't  children  only 
who  starve  poets  to  death  and  then  spend 
enough  on  their  funerals  and  monuments 
to  have  kept  them  alive  and  made  them 
easy  and  comfortable.  Now —  " 


630 


75  HE  LIVING  OR  IS  HE  DEAD  ? 


But  here  we  were  in- 
terrupted. About  ten, 
that  evening,  I  ran 
across  Smith,  and  he 
asked  me  up  to  his  par- 
lor to  help  him  smoke 
and  drink  hot  Scotch. 
It  was  a  cosy  place,  with 
its  comfortable  chairs, 
its  cheerful  lamps  and 
its  friendly  open  fire  of 
seasoned  olive-wood. 
To  make  everything 
perfect,  there  was  the 
muffled  booming  of  the 
surf  outside.  After  the 
second  Scotch  and 
much  lazy  and  content- 
ed chat,  Smith  said  : 

' '  Now  we  are  properly  primed — I  to  tell 
a  curious  history,  and  you  to  listen  to  it. 
It  has  been  a  secret  for'  many  years— -a 
secret  between  me  and  three  others  ;  but  I 
am  going  to  break  the  seal  now.  Are 
3rou  comfortable  ?  ' ' 

"  Perfectly.     Go  on.  " 
Here  follows  what  he  told  me  : 
A  long  time  ago  I  was  a  young  artist — 
a  very  young  artist,  in  fact — and  I  wan- 
dered about  the  country  parts  of  France, 
sketching  here  and  sketching  there,  and 
was  presently  joined  by  a  couple  of  dar- 
ling young  Frenchmen   who  were  at  the 
same  kind   of  thing  that  I  was  doing. 


-•mi.sKKltmfVif.tt. 


We  were  as  happy  as 
we.  were  poor,  or  as 
poor  as  we  were  happy 
— phrase  it  to  suit  your- 
self. Claude  Frere  and 
Carl  Boulanger — these 
are  the  names  of  those 
boys  ;  dear,  dear  fel- 
lows, and  the  sunniest 
spirits  that  ever 
laughed  at  poverty  and 
had  a  noble  good  time 
in  all  weathers. 

At  last  we  ran  hard  a 
ground  in  a  Breton  vil- 
lage, and  an  artist  as 
poor  as  ourselves  took 
us  in  and  literally 
saved  us  from  starving 
— Franjois  Millet  — 

' '  What !  the  great  Franjois  Millet  ?  ' ' 
Great  ?  He  wasn't  any  greater  than  we 
were,  then.  He  hadn't  any  fame,  even 
in  his  own  village  ;  and  he  was  so  poor 
that  he  hadn't  an}-thing  to  feed  us  on  but 
turnips,  and  even  the  turnips  failed  us 
sometimes.  We  four  became  fast  friends, 
doting  friends,  inseparables.  We  painted 
away  together  with  all  our  might,  piling 
up  stock,  piling  up  stock,  but  very  seldom 
getting  rid  of  any  of  it.  We  had  lovety 
times  together ;  but,  O  my  soul  !  how 
we  were  pinched  now  and  then  ! 

For  a  little  over  two  years  this  went  on. 
At  last,  one  day,  Claude  said  : 

"  Boys,  we've  come  to  the  end.  Do  you 
understand  that?— absolutely  to  the  end. 
Eve^body  ha's  struck — there's  a  league 
formed  against  us.  I've  been  all  around 
the  village  and  it's  just  as  I  tell  you. 
They  refuse  to  credit  us  for  another  cen- 
time until  all  the  odds  and  ends  are  paid 
up." 

This  struck  us  cold.  Every  face  was 
blank  with  dismay.  We  realized  that  our 
circumstances  were  desperate,  now.  There 
was  a  long  silence.  Finally,  Millet  said, 
with  a  sigh  : 

"  Nothing  occurs  to  me — nothing.  Sug- 
gest something,  lads." 

There  was  no  response,  unless  a  mourn- 
ful silence  may  be  called  a  response.  Carl 
got  up,  and  walked  nervously  up  and 
down  a  while,  then  said  : 

"  It's  a  shame  !  Look  at  these  canvases  : 
stacks  and  stacks  of  as  good  pictures  as 
anybody  in  Europe  paints — I  don't  care 


SS  HE  LIVING  OR  IS  HE  DEAD  f 


631 


who  he  is.  Yes,  and  plenty  of  lounging 
strangers  have  said  the  same — or  nearly 
that,  anyway." 

"  But  didn't  buy,"  Millet  said. 

"  No  matter,  they  said  it ;  and  it's  true, 
too.  Look  at  your  '  Angelus  f  there  ; 
will  anybody  tell  me  — 

"  Pah,  Carl — my  Angelus  !  I  was  of- 
fered five  francs  for  it." 

"When  !" 

"  Who  offered  it !" 

"  Where  is  he  !  " 

"  Why  didn't  you  take  it !  " 

"  Come — don't  all  speak  at  once.  I 
thought  he  would  give  more — I  was  siire 
of  it  —  he  looked  it  —  so  I  asked  him 
eight." 

"  Well— and  then  ?" 

"  He  said  he  would  call  again." 

' '  Thunder  and  lightning  !  Why,  Fran- 
cois— ' ' 

"  Oh,  I  kn'ow,  I  know  !  It  was  a  mis- 
take, and  I  was  a  fool.  Boys,  I  meant  for 
the  best ;  you'll  all  grant  me  that,  and 
I— " 


if  an  illustrious  name  were  attached  to 
them  they  would  sell  at  splendid  prices. 
Isn't  it  so?  " 

"  Certainly  it  is.    Nobody  doubts  that." 
"  But — I'm  not  joking — isn't  it  so  ?  " 
"  Why,  of   course  it's  so — and  we  are 
not  joking.     But  what  of  it  ?    What  of 
it  ?     How  does  that  concern  us  ?  " 

"  In  this  way  comrades — we'll    attach 
an  illustrious  name  to  them  !  " 

The  lively  conversation  stopped.  The 
faces  were  turned  inquiringly  upon  Carl. 
What  sort  of  riddle  might  this  be  ?  Where 
was  an  illustrious  name  to  be  borrowed  ? 
And  who  was  to  borrow  it  ? 
Carl  sat  down,  and  said  : 
1 '  Now  I  have  a  perfectly  serious  thing 
to  propose.  I  think  it  is  the  only  way  to 
keep  us  out  of  the  almshouse,  and  I  be- 
lieve it  to  be  a  perfectly  sure  way.  I  base 
this  opinion  upon  certain  multitudinous 
and  long  established  facts  in  human  his- 
tory. I  believe  my  project  will  make  us 
all  rich." 

"Rich!     You've  lost  your  mind." 

"  No,  I  haven't." 
"  Yes,    you   have 
—  you've  lost  your 
mind.  What  do  you 
call  rich  ?  ' ' 

1  ' A    hundred 
thousand  francs 


'TAKE   IN    EVERY    IJETAII 


"  Why,  certainly,  we  know  that,  bless 
your  dear  heart ;  but  don't  you  be  a  fool 
again." 

"I?  I  wish  somebody  would  come 
along  and  offer  us  a  cabbage  for  it — you'd 
see  ! ' ' 

"  A  cabbage  !  Oh,  don't  name  it — it 
makes  my  mouth  water.  Talk  of  things 
less  trying." 

"  Boys,"  said  Carl,  "  do  these  pictures 
lack  merit  ?  Answer  me  that. ' ' 

"No!" 

"  Aren't  they  of  very  great  and  high 
merit  ?  Answer  me  that." 

"  Yes." 

"  Of  such  great  and  high  merit,  that, 


apiece. 

"  He  has  lost  his 
mind.  I  knew  it." 
"  Yes,  he  has. 
Carl,  privation  has 
been  too  much  for 
you  and — " 

"  Carl,  you  want 
to  take  a  pill   and 
get  right  to  bed  !  " 

"  Bandage  him  first — bandage  his  head, 
and  then — 

"  No,  bandage  his  heels  ;  his  brains 
have  been  settling  for  weeks— I've  noticed 
it." 

"Shut  up!"  said  Millet,  with  osten- 
sible severity,  "and  let  the  boy  say  his 
say.  Now  then  —  come  out  with  your 
project,  Carl.  What  is  it?  " 

"Well,  then,  by  way  of  preamble  I  will 
ask  you  to  note  this  fact  in  human  his- 
tory :  that  the  merit  of  many  a  great 
artist  has  never  been  acknowledged  until 
after  he  was  starved  and  dead.  This  has 
happened  so  often  that  I  make  bold  to 


632 


/S  HE  LI}7 I  NO  OR  IS  HE  DEAD  f 


found  a  law  upon  it.  This  law  :  that  the 
merit  of  every  great  unknown  and  neglect- 
ed artist  must  and  will  be  recognized  and 
his  pictures  climb  to  high  prices  after  his 
death.  My  project  is  this  :  we  must  cast 
lots — one  of  us  must  die. ' ' 

The  remark  fell  so  calmly  and  so  unex- 
pectedly that  we  almost  forgot  to  jump. 
Then  there  was  a  wild  chorus  of  advice 
again — medical  advice,  for  the  help  of 
Carl's  brain  ;  but  he  waited  patiently  for 
the  hilarity  to  calm  down,  then  went  on 
again  with  his  project : 

"  Yes,  one  of  us  must  die,  to  save  the 
others — and  himself.  We  will  cast  lots. 
The  one  chosen  shall  be  illustrious,  all  of 
us  shall  be  rich.  Hold  still,  now — hold 
still ;  don't  interrupt — I  tell  you  I  know 
what  I  am  talking  about.  Here  is  the 
idea.  During  the  next  three  months  the 
one  who  is  to  die  shall  paint  with  all  his 
might,  enlarge  his  stock  all  he  can — not 
pictures,  no!  skeleton  sketches,  studies, 
parts  of  studies,  fragments  of  studies,  a 
dozen  dabs  of  the  brush  on  each — mean- 


"  EVERY   FACE  WAS   BLANK  WITH    DISMAY 

ingless,  of  course,  but  his,  with  his  cipher 
on  them  ;  turn  out  fifty  a  day,  each  to 
contain  some  peculiarity  or  mannerism 
easily  detectable  as  his — they're  the  things 
that  sell  you  know,  and  are  collected  at 
fabulous  prices  for  the  world's  museums, 
after  the  great  man  is  gone  ;  we'll  have  a 
ton  of  them  ready — a  ton  !  And  all  that 
time  the  rest  of  us  will  be  busy  support- 
ing the  moribund,  and  working  Paris  and 
the  dealers — preparations  for  the  coming 


event,  you  know  ;  and  when  everything 
is  hot  and  just  right,  we'll   spring   the 
death   on   them   and  have  the  notorious 
funeral.     You  get  the  idea  ?  " 
"  N-o  ;  at  least,  not  qu — 
"Not  quite?   Don't  you  see?   The  man 
doesn't  really  die  ;  he  changes  his  name 
and  vanishes  ;   we  bury   a  dummy,  and 
cry  over  it,  with  all  the  world  to  help. 
And  I—" 

But  he  wasn't  allowed  to  finish.  Every- 
body broke  out  into  a  rousing  hurrah  of 
applause  ;  and  all  jumped  up  and  capered 
about  the  room  and  fell  on  each  other's 
necks,  in  transports  of  gratitude  and  joy. 
For  hours  we  talked  over  the  great  plan, 
without  ever  feeling  hungry  ;  and  at  last, 
when  all  the  details  had  been  arranged 
satisfactorily,  we  cast  lots  and  Millet  was 
elected — elected  to  die,  as  we  called  it. 
Then  we  scraped  together  those  things 
which  one  never  parts  with*  until  he  is 
betting  them  against  future  wealth — 
keepsake  trinkets  and  suchlike  —  and 
these  we  pawned  for  enough  to  furnish 
us  a  frugal  farewell 
supper  and  breakfast, 
and  leave  us  a  few 
francs  over  for  travel, 
and  a  stake  of  turnips 
and  stuff  for  Millet  to 
live  on  for  a  few  days. 
Next  morning 
early,  the  three  of  us 
cleared  out,  straight- 
way after  breakfast — 
on  foot,  of  course. 
Each  of  us  carried  a 
dozen  of  Millet's  small 
pictures,  purposing  to 
market  them.  Carl 
struck  for  Paris,  where 
he  would  start  the 
work  of  building  up 
Millet's  fame  against 
the  coming  great  day; 
Claude  and  I  were  to  separate,  and  scatter 
abroad  over  France. 

Now,  it  will  surprise  you  to  know  what 
an  easy  and  comfortable  thing  we  had.  I 
walked  two  days  before  I  began  business. 
Then  I  began  to  sketch  a  villa  in  the  out- 
skirts of  a  big  town — because  I  saw  the 
proprietor  standing  on  an  upper  verandah. 
He  came  down  to  look  on — I  thought  he 
would.  I  worked  swiftly,  intending  to 
keep  him  interested.  Occasionally  he 


SS  HE  LIVING  OR  IS  HE  DEAD? 


633 


fired  off  a  little  ejaculation  of  approbation, 
and  by  and  by  he  spoke  up  with  enthusi- 
asm and  said  I  was  a  master  ! 

I  put  down  my  brush,  reached  into  my 
satchel,  fetched  out  a  Millet,  and  point- 
ed to  the  cipher  in  the  corner.  I  said, 
proudly : 

"  I  suppose  you  recognize  that?  Well, 
he  taught  me  !  I  should  think  I  ought  to 
know  my  trade  !  " 

The  man  looked  guiltily  embarrassed, 
and  was  silent.  I  said,  sorrowfully  : 

."  You  don't  mean  to  intimate  that  you 
don't  know  the  cipher  of  Fra^ois  Mil- 
let !" 

Of  course  he  didn't  know  that  cipher  ; 
but  he  was  the  grateful  lest  man  you  ever 
saw,  just  the  same,  for  being  let  out  of  an 
uncomfortable  place  on  such  easy  terms. 
He  said : 

"  No  !  Why,  it  is  Millet's,  sure  enough ! 
I   don't   know  what   I  could  have  been, 
thinking  of.      Of  course  I   recognize  it 
now." 

Next,  he  wanted  to  buy  it ;  but  I  said 
that  although  I  wasn't  rich  I  wasn't 
that  poor.  However,  at  last,  I  let  him 
have  it  for  eight  hundred  francs. 

"  Eight  hundred  !" 

Yes.  Millet  would  have  sold  it  for  a 
pork  chop.  Yes,  I  got  eight  hundred 
francs  for  that  little  thing.  I  wish  I 
could  get  it  back  for  eighty  thousand. 
But  that  time's  gone  by.  I  made  a  very 
nice  picture  of  that  man's  house,  and  I 
wanted  to  offer  it  to  him  for  ten  francs, 
but  that  wouldn't  answer,  seeing  I  was 
the  pupil  of  such  a  master,  so  I  sold  it  to 
him  for  a  hundred.  I  sent  the  eight  hun- 
dred francs  straight  back  to  Millet  from 
that  town  and  struck  out  again  next  day. 

But  I  didn't  walk — no.  I  rode.  I  have 
ridden  ever  since.  I  sold  one  picture 
every  day,  and  never  tried  to  sell  two.  I 
always  said  to  my  customer, — 

"  I  am  a  fool  to  sell  a  picture  of  Fja^ois 
Millet's  at  all,  for  that  man  is  not  going 
to  live  three  months  and  when  he  dies 
his  pictures  can't  be  had  for  love  or 
money." 

I  took  care  to  spread  that  little  fact  as 
far  as  I  could,  and  prepare  the  world  for 
the  event. 

I  take  credit  to  myself  for  our  plan  of 
selling  the  pictures — it  was  mine.  I  sug- 
gested it  that  last  evening  when  we  were 
laying  out  our  campaign,  and  all  three  of 


"  ALL    JUMPED   UP   AND   FELL    ON   EACH   OTHER'S 

NECKS." 


us  agreed  to  give  it  a  good  fair  trial  be- 
fore giving  it  up  for  some  other.  It  suc- 
ceeded with  all  of  us.  I  walked  only  two 
days,  Claude  walked  two  —  both  of  us 
afraid  to  make  Millet  celebrated  too  close 
to  home — but  Carl  walked  only  half  a  day, 
the  bright,  conscienceless  rascal  and  after 
that  he  traveled  like  a  duke. 

Every  now  and  then  we  got  in  with  a 
country  editor  and  started  an  item  around 
through  the  press;  not  an  item  announc- 
ing that  a  new  painter  had  been  discov- 
ered, but  an  item  which  let  on  that  every- 
body knew  Fran£ois  Millet ;  not  an  item 
praising  him  in  any  way  but  merely  a 
word  concerning  the  present  condition  of 
the  "  master  " — sometimes  hopeful,  some- 
times despondent,  but  always  tinged  with 
fears  for  the  worst.  We  always  marked 
these  paragraphs,  and  sent  the  papers  to 
all  the  people  who  had  bought  pictures 
of  us. 

Carl  was  soon  in  Paris,  and  he  worked 
things  with  a  high  hand.  He  made 
friends  with  the  correspondents  and  got 
Millet's  condition  reported  to  England 
and  all  over  the  continent,  and  America, 
and  everywhere. 

At  the  end  of  six  weeks  from  the  start, 
we  three  met  in  Paris  and  called  a  halt, 
and  stopped  sending  back  to  Millet  for 
additional  pictures.  The  boom  was  so 
high,  and  everything  so  ripe,  that  we  saw 
that  it  would  be  a  mistake  not  to  strike 


634 


75  HE  LIVING  OR  IS  HE  DEAD? 


now,  right  away, 
without  waiting  any 
longer.  So  we  wrote 
Millet  to  go  to  bed 
and  begin  to  waste 
away  pretty  fast,  for 
\ve  should  like  him 
to  die  in  ten  days  if 
he  could  get  ready. 

Then  we  figured 
up  and  found  that 
among  us  we  had 
sold  eighty -five 
small  pictures  and 
studies,  and  had  six- 
ty-nine thousand 
francs  to  show  for  it. 
Carl  had  made  the 
last  sale  and  the  most  brilliant  one  of  all. 
He  sold  the  Angelus  for  twenty-two  hun- 
dred francs.  How  we  did  glorify  him  !  — 
not  foreseeing  that  a  day  was  coming  by 
and  by  when  France  would  struggle  to 
own  it  and  a  stranger  would  capture  it 
for  five  hundred  and  fifty  thousand,  cash. 

We  had  a  wind-up  champagne  supper 
that  night,  and  next  day  Claude  and  I 
packed  up  and  went  off  to  nurse  Millet 
through  his  last  days  and  keep  busy- 
bodies  out  of  the  house  and  send  daily 
bulletins  to  Carl  in  Paris  for  publication 
in  the  papers  of  several  continents  for  the 
information  of  a  waiting  world.  The  sad 
end  came  at  last,  and  Carl  was  there  in 
time  to  help  in  the  final  mournful  rites. 

You  remember  that  great  funeral,  and 
what  a  stir  it  made  all  over  the  globe,  and 
how  the  illustrious  of  two  worlds  came  to 
attend  it  and  testify  their  sorrow.  We 
four — still  inseparable — carried  the  coffin, 
and  would  allow  none  to  help.  And  we 
were  rightabout  that,  because  it  hadn't 
anything  in  it  but  a  wax  figure,  and  any 
other  coffin-bearers  would  have  found 
fault  with  the  weight.  Yes,  we  same  old 
four,  who  had  lovingly  shared  privation 
together  in  the  old  hard  times  now  gone 
forever,  carried  the  cof — ' ' 

"  Which  four?  " 

"  We  four — for  Millet  helped  to  carry 
his  own  coffin.  In  disguise,  you  know. 
Disguised  as  a  relative — distant  relative  ' ' 

"  Astonishing  !  " 

But  true,  just  the  same.  Well,  you  re- 
member how  the  pictures  went  up. 
Money?  We  didn't  know  what  to  do  with 
it.  There's  a  man  in  Paris  today  who 


I  SUPPOSE  YOU   RECOGNIZE  THAT  ! 


owns  sevent}'  Millet 
pictures.  He  paid  us 
two  million  francs  for 
them.  Andasforthe 
bushels  of  sketches 
and  studies  which 
Millet  shoveled  out 
during  the  six  weeks 
that  we  were  on  the 
road,  well,  it  would 
astonish  you  to  know 
the  figure  we  sell 
them  at  now-a-days 
• — that  is,  when  we 
consent  to  let  one  go. 
"It  is  a  wonder- 
ful history,  perfectly 
wonderful  ! ' ' 
Yes — it  amounts  to  that. 
"  Whatever  became  of  Millet  ?  " 
Can  you  keep  a  secret  ? 
"  I  can." 

Do  you  remember  the  man  I  called  your 
attention  to  in  the    dining-room   today  ? 
That  was  Francois  Millet. 
"  Great—" 

Scott!  Yes.  For  once  the}' didn't  starve 
a  genius  to  death  and  then  put  into  other 
pockets  the  rewards  he  should  have  had 
himself.  This  song-bird  was  not  allowed 
to  pipe  out  its  heart  unheard  and  then  be 
paid  with  the  cold  pomp  of  a  big  funeral. 
We  looked  out  for  that. 


A  TRAVELLER  FROM  ALTRURIA. 


"    BY  W.  D.  HOWELLS. 


XI. 


i  l  T  COULD  not  give  you  a  clear  ac- 
-l  count  of  the  present  state  of  things 
in  my  country,"  the  Altrurian  began, 
"without  first  telling  you  something  of 
our  conditions  before  the  time  of  our  evo- 
lution. It  seems  to  be  the  law  of  all  life, 
that  nothing  can  come  to  fruition  without 
dying  and  seeming  to  making  an  end.  It 
must  be  sown  in  corruption  before  it  can 
be  raised  in  incorruption.  The  truth 
itself  must  perish  to  our  senses  before  it 
can  live  to  our  souls ;  the  Son  of  Man 
must  suffer  upon  the  cross  before  we  can 
know  the  Son  of  God. 

"  It  was  so  with  His  message  to  the 
world,  which  we  received  in  the  old  time 
as  an  ideal  realized  by  the  earliest  Christ- 
ians, who  loved  one  another  and  who  had 
all  things  common.  The  apostle  cast 
away  upon  our  heathen  coasts,  won  us 
with  the  story  of  this  first  Christian  re- 
public, and  he  established  a  common- 
wealth of  peace  and  goodwill  among  us 
in  its  likeness.  That  commonwealth  per- 
ished, just  as  its  prototype  perished,  or 
seemed  to  perish;  and  long  ages  of  civic 
and  economic  \varfare  succeeded,  when 
every  man's  hand  was  against  his  neigh- 
bor, and  might  was  the  rule  that  got  itself 
called  right.  Religion  ceased  to  be  the 
hope  of  this  world,  and  became  the  vague 
promise  of  the  next.  We  descended  into 
the  valley  of  the  shadow,  and  dwelt  amid 
chaos  for  ages,  before  we  groped  again 
into  the  light. 

"The  first  glimmerings  were  few  and 
indistinct,  but  men  formed  themselves 
about  the  luminous  points  here  and  there, 
and  when  these  broke  and  dispersed  into 
lesser  gleams,  still  men  formed  them- 
selves about  each  of  them.  There  arose 
a  system  of  things,  better,  indeed,  than 
that  darkness,  but  full  of  war,  and  lust, 
and  greed,  in  which  the  weak  rendered 
homage  to  the  strong,  and  served  them 
in  the  field  and  in  the  camp,  and  the 
strong  in  turn  gave  the  weak  protection 
against  the  other  strong.  It  was  a  juggle 


in  which  the  weak  did  not  see  that  their 
safety  was  after  all  from  themselves;  but 
it  was  an  image  of  peace,  however  false 
and  fitful,  and  it  endured  for  a  time.  It 
endured  for  a  limited  time,  if  we  measure 
by  the  life  of  the  race;  it  endured  for  an 
unlimited  time  if  we  measure  by  the  lives 
of  the  men  who  were  born  and  died  while 
it  endured. 

"  But  that  disorder,  cruel  and  fierce  and 
stupid,  which  endured  because  it  some- 
times masked  itself  as  order,  did  at  last 
pass  away.  Here  and  there  one  of  the 
strong  overpowered  the  rest;  then  the 
strong  became  fewer  and  fewer,  and  in 
their  turn  they  all  yielded  to  a  supreme 
lord,  and  throughout  the  land  there  was 
one  rule,  as  it  was  called  then,  or  one 
misrule,  as  we  should  call  it  now.  This 
rule,  or  this  misrule,  continued  for  ages 
more;  and  again,  in  the  immortality  of 
the  race,  men  toiled  and  struggled,  and 
died  without  the  hope  of  better  things. 

"Then  the  time  came  when  the  long 
nightmare  was  burst  with  the  vision  of 
a  future  in  which  all  men  were  the  law, 
and  not  one  man,  or  any  less  number  of 
men  than  all. 

"  The  poor,  dumb  beast  of  humanity 
rose,  and  the  throne  tumbled,  and  the 
sceptre  was  broken,  and  the  crown  rolled 
away  into  that  darkness  of  the  past.  We 
thought  that  heaven  had  descended  to  us, 
and  that  liberty,  equality  and  fraternity 
were  ours.  We  could  not  see  what  should 
again  alienate  us  from  one  another,  or 
how  one  brother  could  again  oppress  an- 
other. With  a  free  field  and  no  favor,  we 
believed  we  should  prosper  on  together, 
and  there  would  be  peace  and  plenty  forall. 
We  had  the  republic,  again,  after  so  many 
ages  now,  and  the  republic,  as  we  knew 
it  in  our  dim  annals  was  brotherhood  and 
universal  happiness.  All  but  a  very  few 
who  prophesied  evil  of  our  lawless  free- 
dom, were  rapt  in  a  delirium  of  hope. 
Men's  minds  and  men's  hands  were  sud- 
denly released  to  an  activity  unheard  of 
before.  Invention  followed  invention  ; 
our  rivers  and  seas  became  the  woof  of 


636 


A    TRAVELLER  FROM  ALTRURIA. 


commerce  where  the  steam-sped  shuttles 
carried  the  warp  of  enterprise  to  and  fro 
with  tireless  celerity.  Machines  to  save 
labor  multiplied  themselves  as  if  they  had 
been  procreative  forces;  and  wares  of  ev- 
ery sort  were  produced  with  incredible 
swiftness  and  cheapness.  Money  seemed 
to  flow  from  the  ground ;  vast  fortunes  <  rose 
like  an  exhalation,'  as  your  Milton  says. 

"At  first  we  did  not  know  that  they 
were  the  breath  of  the  nethermost  pits  of 
hell,  and  that  the  love  of  money  which 
was  becoming  universal  with  us,  was 
filling  the  earth  with  the  hate  of  men.  It 
was  long  before  we  came  to  realize  that 
in  the  depths  of  our  steamships  were 
those  who  fed  the  fires  with  their  lives, 
and  that  our  mines  from  which  we  dug 
our  wealth  were  the  graves  of  those  who 
had  died  to  the  free  light  and  air,  without 
finding  the  rest  of  death.  We  did  not  see 
that  the  machines  for  saving  labor  were 
monsters  that  devoured  women  and  child- 
ren, and  wasted  men  at  the  bidding  of 
the  power  which  no  man  must  touch. 

"That  is,  we  thought  we  must  not 
touch  it,  for  it  called  itself  prosperity,  and 
wealth,  and  the  public  good,  and  it  said 
that  it  gave  bread,  and  it  impudently  bade 
the  toiling  myriads  consider  what  would 
become  of  them,  if  it  took  away  their 
means  of  wearing  themselves  out  in  its 
service.  It  demanded  of  the  state  ab- 
solute immunity  and  absolute  impunit3r, 
the  right  to  do  its  will  wherever  and  how- 
ever it  would,  without  question  from  the 
people  who  were  the  final  law.  It  had  its 
way,  and  iinder  its  rule  we  became  the 
richest  people  under  the  sun.  The  Accu- 
mulation, as  we  called  this  power,  because 
we  feared  to  call  it  by  its  true  name,  re- 
warded its  own  with  gains  of  twenty,  of 
a  hundred,  of  a  thousand  per  cent.,  and 
to  satisfy  its  need,  to  produce  the  labor 
that  operated  its  machines,  there  came 
into  existence  a  hapless  race  of  men  who 
bred  their  kind  for  its  service,  and  whose 
little  ones  were  its  prey,  almost  from  their 
cradles.  Then  the  infamy  became  too 
great,  and  the  law,  the  voice  of  the  people, 
so  long  guiltily  silent,  was  lifted  in  be- 
half of  those  who  had  no  helper.  The 
Accumulation  came  under  control,  for  the 
first  time,  and  could  no  longer  work  its 
slaves  twenty  hours  a  day  amid  perils  to 
life  and  limb  from  its  machiner}'  and  in  con- 
ditions that  forbade  them  decenc}-  and  mo- 


ralit}-.  The  time  of  a  hundred  and  a  thou- 
sand per  cent,  passed  ;  but  still  the  Accu- 
mulation demanded  immunity  and  im- 
punity, and  in  spite  of  its  conviction  of 
the  enormities  it  had  practiced,  it  declared 
itself  the  only  means  of  civilization  and 
progress.  It  began  to  give  out  that  it  was 
timid,  though  its  history  was  full  of  the 
boldest  frauds  and  crimes,  and  it  threat- 
ened to  withdraw  itself  if  it  were  ruled  or 
even  crossed  ;  and  again  it  had  its  way, 
and  we  seemed  to  prosper  more  and 
more.  The  land  was  filled  with  cities 
where  the  rich  flaunted  their  splendor  in 
palaces,  and  the  poor  swarmed  in  squalid 
tenements.  The  country  was  drained  of 
its  life  and  force,  to  feed  the  centers  of 
commerce  and  industry.  The  whole  land 
was  bound  together  with  a  network  of  iron 
roads  that  linked  the  factories  and  found- 
ries to  the  fields  and  mines,  and  blasted 
the  landscape  with  the  enterprise  that 
spoiled  the  lives  of  men. 

"  Then,  all  at  once,  when  its  work 
seemed  perfect  and  its  dominion  sure,  the 
Accumulation  was  stricken  with  con- 
sciousness of  the  lie  always  at  its  heart. 
It  had  hitherto  cried  out  for  a  free  field 
and  no  favor,  for  unrestricted  competition  ; 
but,  in  truth,  it  had  never  prospered, 
except  as  a  monopoly.  Whenever  and 
wherever  competition  had  play,  there  had 
been  nothing  but  disaster  to  the  rival 
enterprises,  till  one  rose  over  the  rest. 
Then  there  was  prosperity  for  that  one. 

1 '  The  Accumulation  began  to  act  upon  its 
new  consciousness.  The  iron  roads  united  ; 
the  warring  industries  made  peace,  each 
kind  under  a  singleleadership.  Monopoly, 
not  competition,  was  seen  to  be  the  benef- 
icent means  of  distributing  the  favors 
and  blessings  of  the  Accumulation  to 
mankind.  But  as  before,  there  was  al- 
ternately a  glut  and  dearth  of  things, 
and  it  often  happened  that  when  starving 
men  went  ragged  through  the  streets,  the 
storehouses  were  piled  full  of  rotting  har- 
vests that  the  farmers  toiled  from  dawn  till 
dusk  to  grow,  and  the  warehouses  fed 
the  moth  with  the  stuffs  that  the  operative 
had  woven  his  life  into  at  his  loom.  Then 
followed,  with  a  blind  and  mad  succession, 
a  time  of  famine,  when  money  could  not 
buy  the  superabundance  that  vanished, 
none  knew  how  or  why. 

"  The  mone3"  itself  vanished  from  time 
to  time,  and  disappeared  into  the  vaults  of 


A    TRA  VELLER  FROM  AL  TRURIA. 


637 


the  Accumulation,  for  no  better  reason 
than  that  for  which  it  poured  itself  out  at 
other  times.  Our  theory  was  that  the 
people,  that  is  to  say  the  government  of 
the  people,  made  the  people's  money,  but, 
as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Accumulation 
made  it,  and  controlled  it,  and  juggled 
with  it ;  and  now  you  saw  it,  and  now 
you  did  not  see  it.  The  government  made 
gold  coins,  but  the  people  had  nothing 
but  the  paper  money  that  the  Accumula- 
tion made.  But  whether  there  was  scarcity 
or  plenty,  the  failures  went  on  with  a  con- 
tinuous ruin  that  nothing  could  check, 
while  our  larger  economic  life  proceeded 
in  a  series  of  violent  shocks,  which  we 
called  financial  panics,  followed  by  long 
periods  of  exhaustion  and  recuperation. 
There  was  no  law  in  our  econom}^  but  as 
the  Accumulation  had  never  cared  for  the 
nature  of  law,  it  did  not  trouble  itself  for 
its  name  in  our  order  of  things.  It  had 
always  bought  the  law  it  needed  for  its 
own  vise,  first  through  the  voter  at  the 
polls  in  the  more  primitive  days,  and 
then,  as  civilization  advanced,  in  the  leg- 
islatures and  the  courts.  But  the  corrup- 
tion even  of  these  more  enlightened  meth- 
ods was  far  surpassed  when  the  era  of 
consolidation  came,  and  the  necessity  for 
statutes  and  verdicts  and  decisions  be- 
came more  stringent.  Then  we  had  such 
a  burlesque  of — 

"Look  here!"  a  sharp  nasal  voice 
snarled  across  the  rich,  full  pipe  of  the 
Altrurian,  and  we  all  instantly  looked 
there.  The  voice  came  from  an  old 
farmer,  holding  himself  stiffly  up,  with 
his  hands  in  his  pockets  and  his  lean 
frame  bent  toward  the  speaker.  "  When 
are  you  goin'  to  git  to  Altrury  ?  We 
know  all  about  Ameriky." 

He  sat  down  again,  and  it  was  a  mo- 
ment before  the  crowd  caught  on.  Then 
a  yell  of  delight  and  a  roar  of  volleyed 
laughter  went  up  from  the  lower  classes, 
in  which,  I  am  sorry  to  say,- my  friend, 
the  banker,  joined,  so  far  as  the  laughter 
was  concerned.  "  Good  !  That's  it !  First- 
rate!"  came  from  a  hundred  vulgar 
throats. 

"Isn't  it  a  perfect  shame?"  Mrs. 
Makely  demanded.  "  I  think  some  of 
you  gentlemen  ought  to  say  something  ! 
What  will  Mr.  Homos  think  of  our  civili- 
zation if  we  let  such  interruptions  go  un- 
rebuked  ! ' ' 


She  was  sitting  between*the  banker  and 
myself,  and  her  indignation  made  him 
laugh  more  and  more.  "  Oh,  it  serves 
him  right,"  he  said.  "  Don't  you  see 
that  he  is  hoist  with  his  own  petard  ? 
Let  him  alone.  He's  in  the  hands  of  his 
friends." 

The  Altrurian  waited  for  the  tumult  to 
die  away,  and  then  he  said,  gently  :  "I 
don't  understand." 

The  old  farmer  jerked  himself  to  his 
feet  again  :  "It's  like  this  :  I  paid  my 
dolla'  to  hear  about  a  country  where  there 
wa'n't  no  co'perations,  and  no  monop'lies, 
nor  no  buyin'  up  cou'ts  ;  and  I  ain't  agoin' 
to  have  no  allegor)r  shoved  down  my 
throat,  instead  of  a  true  history,  noways. 
I  know  all  about  how  it  is  here.  Fi'st, 
run  their  line  through  your  backya'd, 
and  then  kill  off  your  cattle,  and  keep 
kerryin'  on  it  up  from  cou't  to  cou't,  till 
there  ain't  hide  or  hair  of  'em  left— 

"  Oh,  set  down,  set  down  !  Let  the 
man  go  on  !  He'll  make  it  all  right 
with  you,"  one  of  the  construction  gang 
called  out;  but  the  farmer  stood  his 
ground,  and  I  could  hear  him  through 
the  laughing  and  shouting,  keep  saying 
something,  from  time  to  time,  about  not 
wanting  to  pay  no  dolla'  for  no  talk  about 
co'perations  and  monop'lies  that  we  had 
right  under  our  own  noses  the  whole 
while,  and  you  might  say  in  your  very 
bread-troughs  ;  till,  at  last,  I  saw  Reu- 
ben Camp  make  his  way  towards  him, 
and,  after  an  energetic  expostulation,  turn 
to  leave  him  again. 

Then  he  faltered  out,  "  I  guess  it's  all 
right,"  and  dropped  out  of  sight  in  the 
group  he  had  risen  from.  I  fancied  his 
wife  scolding  him  there,  and  all  but 
shaking  him  in  public. 

"  I  should  be  very  sorry,"  the  Altrurian 
proceeded,  "  to  have  anyone  believe  that 
I  have  not  been  giving  you  a  bona  fide  ac- 
count of  conditions  in  my  country  before 
the  evolution,  when  we  first  took  the 
name  of  Altruria  in  our  great,  peaceful 
campaign  against  the  Accumulation.  As 
for  offering  you  any  allegory  or  travesty 
of  your  own  conditions,  I  will  simply  say 
that  I  do  not  know  them  well  enough  to 
do  so  intelligently.  But,  whatever  they 
are,  God  forbid  that  the  likeness  which 
you  seem  to  recognize  should  ever  go  so 
far  as  the  desperate  state  of  things  which 
we  finally  reached.  I  will  not  trouble  you 


638 


A    TRAVELLER  FROM  ALTRURIA. 


with  details;  in  fact,  I  have  been  afraid 
that  I  had  already  treated  of  our  affairs 
too  abstractly ;  but,  since  }-our  own  experi- 
ence furnishes  }-ou  the  means  of  seizing 
my  meaning,  I  will  go  on  as  before. 

"  You  will  understand  me  when  I  ex- 
plain that  the  Accumulation  had  not 
erected  itself  into  the  sovereignty  with 
us  unopposed.  The  workingmen  who 
suffered  most  from  its  oppression  had 
early  begun  to  band  themselves  against 
it,  with  'the  instinct  of  self-preservation, 
first  trade  by  trade,  and  art  by  art,  and 
then  in  congresses  and  federations  of  the 
trades  and  arts,  until  finally  they  enrolled 
themselves  in  one  vast  union,  which  in- 
cluded all  the  workingmen  whom  their 
necessity  or  their  interest  did  not  leave 
on  the  side  of  the  Accumulation.  This 
beneficent  and  generous  association  of  the 
weak  for  the  sake  of  the  weakest  did  not 
accomplish  itself  full}*  till  the  baleful  in- 
stinct of  the  Accumulation  had  reduced  the 
monopolies  to  one  vast  monopoly,  till  the 
stronger  had  devoured  the  weaker  among 
its  members,  and  the  supreme  agent  stood 
at  the  head  of  our  affairs,  in  everything 
but  name  our  imperial  ruler.  We  had 
hugged  so  long  the  delusion  of  each 
man  for  himself,  that  we  had  suffered  all 
realty  to  be  taken  from  us.  The  Accu- 
mulation owned  the  land  as  well  as  the 
mines  under  it  and  the  shops  over  it ;  the 
Accumulation  owned  the  seas  and  the 
ships  that  sailed  the  seas,  and  the  fish 
that  swam  in  their  depths ;  it  owned 
transportation  and  distribution,  and  the 
wares  and  products  that  were  to  be  carried 
to  and  fro;  and,  by  a  logic  irresistible  and 
inexorable,  the  Accumulation  was,  and 
we  were  not. 

"But  the  Accumulation,  too,  had  for- 
gotten something.  It  had  found  it  so  easy 
to  bu}7  legislatures  and  courts,  that  it  did 
not  trouble  itself  about  the  polls.  It  left 
us  the  suffrage,  and  let  us  amuse  ourselves 
with  the  periodical  election  of  the  political 
clay  images  which  it  manipulated  and 
moulded  to  any  shape  and  effect,  at  its 
pleasure.  The  Accumulation  knew  that  it 
was  the  sovereignty,  whatever  figure-head 
we  called  president,  or  governor,  or  mayor  : 
we  had  other  names  for  these  officials,  but 
I  use  their  analogues  for  the  sake  of  clear- 
ness, and  I  hope  my  good  friend  over 
there  will  not  think  I  am  still  talking 
about  America." 


"  No,"  the  old  farmer  called  back, 
without  rising,  "we  hain't  got  there, 
quite,  yit." 

"  No  hurry,"  said  a  trainman.  "  All  in 
good  time.  Go  on  !  "  he  called  to  the  Al- 
trurian. 

The  Altrurian  resumed  : 

"  There  had  been,  from  the  beginning, 
an  almost  ceaseless  struggle  between  the 
Accumulation  and  the  proletariate.  The 
Accumulation  always  said  that  it  was  the 
best  friend  of  the  proletariate,  and  it  de- 
nounced, through  the  press  which  it  con- 
trolled, the  proletarian  leaders  who  taught 
that  it  was  the  enemy  of  the  proletariate, 
and  who  stirred  up  strikes  and  tumults 
of  all  sorts,  for  higher  wages  and  fewer 
hours.  But  the  friend  of  the  proletariate, 
whenever  occasion  served,  treated  the  prol- 
etariate like  a  deadly  enemy.  In  seasons 
of  over-production,  as  it  was  called,  it 
locked  the  workmen  out,  or  laid  them  off, 
and  left  their  families  to  starve,  or  ran 
light  work,  and  claimed  the  credit  of  pub- 
lic benefactors  for  running  at  all.  It 
sought  every  chance  to  reduce  wages  ;  it 
had  laws  passed  to  forbid  or  cripple  the 
workmen  in  their  strikes  ;  and  the  judges 
convicted  them  of  conspirac}-,  and  wrest- 
ed the  statutes  to  their  hurt  in  cases  where 
there  had  been  no  thought  of  embarrassing 
them  even  among  the  legislators.  God  for- 
bid that  3Tou  should  ever  come  to  such  a 
pass  in  America  ;  but,  if  you  ever  should, 
God  grant  that  you  may  find  your  way 
out  as  simply  as  we  did  at  last,  when  free- 
dom had  perished  in  everything  but  name 
among  us,  and  justice  had  become  a 
mockery. 

"  The  Accumulation  had  advanced  so 
smoothly,  so  lightly,  in  all  its  steps  to  the 
supreme  power,  and  had  at  last  so  thor- 
oughly quelled  the  uprisings  of  the  prol- 
etariate, that  it  forgot  one  thing  :  it  for- 
got the  despised  and  neglected  suffrage. 
The  ballot,  because  it  had  been  so  easy  to 
annul  its  effect,  had  been  left  in  the  peo- 
ple's hands  ;  and  when,  at  last,  the  lead- 
ers of  the  proletariate  ceased  to  counsel 
strikes,  or  any  form  of  resistance  to  the 
Accumulation  that  could  be  tormented 
into  the  likeness  of  insurrection  against 
the  government,  and  began  to  urge  them 
to  attack  it  in  the  political  way,  the  deluge 
that  swept  the  Accumulation  out  of  exist- 
ence came  trickling  and  creeping  over  the 
land.  It  appeared  first  in  the  countr\-, 


A    TRAVELLER  FROM  ALTRURIA. 


639 


a  spring  from  the  ground  ;  then  it  gath- 
ered head  in  the  villages  ;  then  it  swelled 
to  a  torrent  in  the  cities.  I  cannot 
stay  to  trace  its  course ;  but  suddenly, 
one  day,  when  the  Accumulation's  abuse 
of  a  certain  power  became  too  gross, 
it  was  voted  out  of  that  power.  You  will 
perhaps  be  interested  to  know  that  it  was 
with  the  telegraphs  that  the  rebellion 
against  the  Accumulation  began,  and 
the  government  was  forced  by  the  over- 
whelming majority  which  the  proletari- 
ate sent  to  our  parliament,  to  assume  a 
function  which  the  Accumulation  had 
impudently  usurped.  Then  the  trans- 
portation of  smaller  and  more  perishable 
wares — 

"Yes,"  a  voice  called  out,  "express 
business.  Go  on  !  " 

' '  Was  legislated  a  function  of  the  post- 
office,"  the  Altrurian  went  on.  "Then 
all  transportation  was  taken  into  the 
hands  of  the  political  government,  which 
had  always  been  accused  of  great  cor- 
ruption in  its  administration,  but  which 
showed  itself  immaculately  pure,  com- 
pared with  the  Accumulation.  The  com- 
mon ownership  of  mines  necessarily  fol- 
lowed, with  an  allotment  of  lands  to 
anyone  who  wished  to  live  by  tilling  the 
land  ;  but  not  a  foot  of  the  land  was  re- 
mitted to  private  hands  for  purposes  of 
selfish  pleasure  or  the  exclusion  of  any 
other  from  the  landscape.  As  all  busi- 
nesses had  been  gathered  into  the  grasp 
of  the  Accumulation,  and  the  manufact- 
ure of  everything  they  used  and  the  pro- 
duction of  everything  that  they  ate  was 
in  the  control  of  the  Accumulation,  its 
transfer  to  the  government  was  the  work 
of  a  single  clause  in  the  statute. 

"  The  Accumulation,  which  had  treated 
the  first  menaces  of  resistance  with  con- 
tempt, awoke  to  its  peril  too  late.  When 
it  turned  to  wrest  the  suffrage  from  the 
proletariate,  at  the  first  election  where  it 
attempted  to  make  head  against  them,  it 
was  simply  snowed  under,  as  your  pict- 
uresque phrase  is.  The  Accumulation 
had  no  voters,  except  the  few  men  at  its 
head,  and  the  creatures  devoted  to  it  by 
interest  and  ignorance.  It  seemed,  at 
one  moment,  as  if  it  would  offer  an  armed 
resistance  to  the  popular  will,  but,  hap- 
pily, that  moment  of  madness  passed. 
Our  evolution  was  accomplished  without 
a  drop  of  bloodshed,  and  the  first  great 


political  brotherhood,  the  commonwealth 
of  Altruria,  was  founded. 

"  I  wish  that  I  had  time  to  go  into  a 
study  of  some  of  the  curious  phases  of 
the  transformation  from  a  civility  in 
which  the  people  lived  upon  each  other  to 
one  in  which  they  lived  for  each  other. 
There  is  a  famous  passage  in  the  inaugu- 
ral message  of  our  first  Altrurian  presi- 
dent, which  compares  the  new  civic  con- 
sciousness with  that  of  a  disembodied 
spirit  released  to  the  life  beyond  this  and 
freed  from  all  the  selfish  cares  and  greeds 
of  the  flesh.  But  perhaps  I  shall  give  a 
sufficiently  clear  notion  of  the  triumph  of 
the  change  among  us,  when  I  say  that 
within  half  a  decade  after  the  fall  of  the 
old  plutocratic  oligarchy  one  of  the  chief 
directors  of  the  Accumulation  publicly 
expressed  his  gratitude  to  God  that  the 
Accumulation  had  passed  away  forever. 
You  will  realize  the  importance  of  such 
an  expression  in  recalling  the  declarations 
some  of  your  slaveholders  have  made 
since  the  civil  war,  that  they  would  not 
have  slavery  restored  for  any  earthly  con- 
sideration. 

"  But  now,  after  this  preamble,  which 
has  been  so  much  longer  than  I  meant  it 
to  be,  how  shall  I  give  you  a  sufficiently 
just  conception  of  the  existing  Altruria, 
the  actual  state  from  which  I  come?  " 

"  Yes,"  came  the  nasal  of  the  old 
farmer,  again,  "  that's  what  we  are  here 
fur.  I  wouldn't  give  a  copper  to  know  all 
that  you  went  through  beforehand.  It's 
too  dumn  like  what  we  have  been  through 
ourselves,  as  fur  as  heard  from." 

A  shout  of  laughter  went  up  from  most 
of  the  crowd,  but  the  Altrurian  did  not 
seem  to  see  any  fun  in  it. 

"Well,"  he  resumed,  "  I  will  tell  you, 
as  well  as  I  can,  what  Altruria  is  like,  but, 
in  the  first  place,  you  will  have  to  cast 
out  of  your  minds  all  images  of  civiliza- 
tion with  which  your  experience  has 
filled  them.  For  a  time,  the  shell  of  the 
old  Accumulation  remained  for  our  social 
habitation,  and  we  dwelt  in  the  old  com- 
petitive and  monopolistic  forms  after  the 
life  had  gone  out  of  them.  That  is,  we 
continued  to  live  in  populous  cities,  and 
we  toiled  to  heap  up  riches  for  the  moth 
to  corrupt,  and  we  slaved  on  in  making 
utterly  useless  things,  merely  because  we 
had  the  habit  of  making  them  to  sell. 
For  a  while  we  made  the  old  sham  things, 


640 


A    TRAVELLER  FROM  ALTRURIA. 


which  pretended  to  be  useful  things  and 
were  worse  than  the  confessedly  useless 
things.  I  will  give  you  an  illustration  in 
one  of  the  trades,  which  you  will  all 
understand.  The  proletariate,  in  the 
competitive  and  monopolistic  time,  used 
to  make  a  kind  of  shoes  for  the  prole- 
tariate, or  the  women  of  the  proletariate, 
which  looked  like  fine  shoes  of  the  best 
quality.  It  took  just  as  much  work  to 
make  these  shoes  as  to  make  the  best  fine 
shoes  ;  but  they  were  shams  through  and 
through.  They  wore  out  in  a  week,  and 
the  people  called  them,  because  they  were 
bought  fresh  for  every  Sunday — ' ' 

"  Sat'd'y  night  shoes  !  "  screamed  the 
old  farmer.  "  I  know  'em.  My  gals  buy 
'em.  Half  dolla'  a  pai',  and  not  wo'th 
the  money." 

"Well,"  said  the  Altrurian,  "they 
were  a  cheat  and  a  lie,  in  every  way,  and 
under  the  new  system  it  was  not  possible, 
when  public  attention  was  called  to  the 
fact,  to  continue  the  falsehood  they  em- 
bodied. As  soon  as  the  Saturday  night 
shoe  realized  itself  to  the  public  con- 
science, an  investigation  began,  and  it  was 
found  that  the  principle  of  the  Saturday 
night  shoe  underlay  half  our  industries 
and  made  half  the  work  that  was  done. 
Then  an  immense  reform  took  place.  We 
renounced,  in  the  most  solemn  convoca- 
tion of  the  whole  economy,  the  principle 
of  the  Saturday  night  shoe,  and  those 
who  had  spent  their  lives  in  producing 
shams — ' ' 

"  Yes,"  said  the  professor,  rising  from 
his  seat  near  TIS,  and  addressing  the 
speaker,  "  I  shall  be  very  glad  to  know 
what  became  of  the  worthy  and  indus- 
trious operatives  who  were  thrown  out  of 
employment  by  this  explosion  of  economic 
virtue." 

"Why,"  the  Altrurian  replied,  "they 
were  set  to  work  making  honest  shoes  ; 
and  as  it  took  no  more  time  to  make  a  pair 
of  honest  shoes,  which  lasted  a  year,  than 
it  took  to  make  a  pair  of  shoes  that  lasted 
a  week,  the  amount  of  labor  in  shoe- 
making  was  at  once  enormously  reduced. ' ' 

"  Yes,"  said  the  professor,  "  I  under- 
stand that.  What  became  of  the  shoe- 
makers ? ' ' 

"  They  joined  the  vast  army  of  other 


laborers  who  had  been  employed,  directly 
or  indirectly,  in  the  fabrication  of  fraudu- 
lent wares.  These  shoemakers — lasters, 
buttonholers,  binders,  andsoon — nolonger 
wore  themselves  out  over  their  machines. 
One  hour  sufficed  where  twelve  hours 
were  needed  before,  and  the  operatives 
were  released  to  the  happy  labor  of  the 
fields,  where  no  one  with  us  toils  killing- 
ly,  from  dawn  till  dusk,  but  does  only  as 
much  work  as  is  needed  to  keep  the  body 
in  health.  We  had  a  continent  to  refine 
and  beautify  ;  we  had  climates  to  change, 
and  seasons  to  modify,  a  whole  system  of 
meteorology  to  readjust,  and  the  public 
works  gave  employment  to  the  multitudes 
emancipated  from  the  soul-destroying  ser- 
vice of  shams.  I  can  scarcely  give  you  a 
notion  of  the  vastness  of  the  improve- 
ments undertaken  and  carried  through, 
or  still  in  process  of  accomplishment. 
But  a  single  one  will,  perhaps,  afford  a 
sufficient  illustration.  Our  southeast 
coast,  from  its  vicinity  to  the  pole,  had 
always  suffered  from  a  winter  of  antarctic 
vigor  ;  but  our  first  president  conceived 
the  plan  of  cutting  off  a  peninsula,  which 
kept  the  equatorial  current  from  making 
in  to  our  shores  ;  and  the  work  was  begun 
in  his  term,  though  the  entire  strip, 
twenty  miles  in  width  and  ninety-three 
in  length,  was  not  severed  before  the  end 
of  the  first  Altrurian  decade.  Since  that 
time  the  whole  region  of  our  southeastern 
coast  has  enjoyed  the  climate  of  your 
Mediterranean  countries. 

"  It  was  not  only  the  makers  of  fraudu- 
lent things  who  were  released  to  these 
useful  and  wholesome  labors,  but  those 
who  had  spent  themselves  in  contriving 
ugly  and  stupid  and  foolish  things  were 
set  free  to  the  public  employments.  The 
multitude  of  these  monstrosities  and  in- 
iquities was  as  great  as  that  of  the 
shams—' ' 

Here  I  lost  some  words,  for  the  profes- 
sor leaned  over  and  whispered  to  me  : 
"  He  has  got  that  out  of  William  Morris. 
Depend  upon  it,  the  man  is  a  humbug. 
He  is  not  an  Altrurian  at  all." 

I  confess  that  my  heart  misgave  me  ; 
but  I  signalled  the  professor  to  be  silent, 
and  again  gave  the  Altrurian — if  he  was 
an  Altrurian — my  whole  attention. 


THE   COSMOPOLITAN. 

From  every  man  according  to  his  ability  :    to  everyone  according  to  his  needs. 

VOL.  XVI.  DECEMBER,    1893.  No.  2_ 


Copyright,   iSt^.  By  J.  B.  WAI.K.KR 


fiy   Vierge. 


"  Apres"  page  241. 


\y 


\ 


By   Vierge. 


"  Apres,'1'  page  242. 


A  FAREWELL  TO  THE  WHITE 
CITY. 

BY  PAUL  BOCRGET. 

THE  fog  arose  suddenly  after  a  glor- 
ious morning  of  blue  sky  and  sun- 
light. A  north  fog,  cold  and  gray,  envel- 
oping Chicago,  then  the  suburbs,  then 
the  extraordinar}-  group  of  buildings 
which  the  popular  fancy  has  so  aptly 
termed  "The  White  City."  All  white 
they  had  been  that  morning,  the  morning 
of  my  farewell  ;  white  as  a  marble  town 
outlined  against  a  sky  untarnished  as 
themselves.  How  they  stood  out,  still 
white,  in  the  dense  enshrouding  fog  ;  but 
it  was  the  whiteness  of  a  phantom  vil- 
lage, whose  contours  were  merged  in  mist, 


whose  domes,  colonnades  and  towers 
lost  all  solidity — a  dreamy  vision  of  ar- 
chitecture, vague  scenery  about  a  phan- 
tom crowd.  They  were  no  longer  men 
whom  I  saw  coming  and  going,  but 
moving  spots,  forms  so  well  obliterated 
that  the  hum  of  voices  escaping  that 
crowd,  confused  and  muffled  by  the 
fog,  became  the  faintest  murmur,  so  I 
thought  I  no  longer  heard  a  chorus  of 
individual  words,  but  a  concert  of  the 
grand,  anonymous  voices  of  nature, 
the  plaint  of  a  stormy  element.  In  the 
last  glance  I  gave  that  fading,  shift- 
ing panorama,  it  seemed  to  me,  that 
chancing  there  that  autumn  day,  first 
clear,  then  veiled,  I  had  experienced  in 
a  few  short  hours  the  extremes  of  that 
city's  fascination :  first,  its  dazzling 
brilliancy,  then  its  fading  gloom,  all  of 
which  would  give  it  legendary  charm. 
I  had  realized  the  melancholy  touch 
which  even-  human  masterpiece  requires 
to  make  it  truly  beautiful — eifacement  in 
the  past. 

How  enchanting  that  glorious  sunny 
morning  had  been.  The  eyes  of  those  who, 
like  myself,  sauntered  by  the  lagoons, 
were  dazzled  by  the  green  waste  of  Lake 
Michigan  through  the  white  columns. 
But  a  greater  fairy  charm  will  clothe  the 
scene  when  we  are  far  from  here  ;  when 
memory  recalls  it,  freed  from  the  vul- 
garity necessary  to  every  similar  sur- 
rounding, recalls  it  distantl}',  indistinctly, 
with  that  conjured,  almost  supernatural 
charm  wrought  by  the  magic  of  this  fog. 
It  is  only  a  drifting  vapor  which  a  sun- 
beam will  drive  away,  but  a  poet,  were 
one  there,  might  keep  the  symbolism  of 
that,  which  in  this  universe,  where  all  is 


*  The  manuscript  of   M.  Bourget  was  placed  in  the  hands  of   Mr.  Walter  Learned,  to  whom  the  edi- 
tors of  The  Cosmopolitan  are  indebted  for  its  translation. 


134 


A   FAREWELL    TO    THE    WHITE   CITY. 


fleeting,  remains  the  most  precious  treas- 
ure of  the  soul,  the  poetry  of  reminis- 
cence. 

Reminiscence,  the  power  which  trans- 
forms sensations  into  thought,  images  in- 
to ideas,  the  frivolous  feast  of  the  eyes  in- 
to food  for  the  mind,  the  pleasure  and 
emotion  of  yesterday  into  a  precept  !  A 
precept  in  the  truest  sense  of  that  word, 
for  one  might  say  that  the  real  philoso- 
phy of  life  comes  from  reminiscences — 
and  we  all  have  them — a  real  philosophy, 
however  humble  we  may  be,  however 
enthralled  by  nature,  however  enervated 
by  slavery  to  passion,  we  all  have  a 
hopeful  or  disheartened  way  of  consid- 
ering ourselves  and  our  destiny,  we 
all  have  a  faith  in  man,  or  a  distrust 
of  him,  a  hope  or  a  despair  for  our  coun- 
try, our  city,  our  family,  the  corner 
where  we  live,  the  community  to  which 
we  belong.  That  philosophy,  clear  in  the 
man  of  moral  sense,  almost  animal  in  the 
man  of  instinct,  comes  elaborated  through 
thousands  of  individuals,  then  loses 
itself  in  one  of  those  mighty  currents  of 
united  wills,  which  make  a  nation.  So 
considered,  one  might  say  that  even* 
event  which  leaves  a  memory  of  common 
impressions  to  many  people  is  a  factor  of 
the  moral  life  of  that  people  which  should 
not  be  neglected. 

Mere  flatterers  or  fanatics  have  said 
that  immense  national  spectacles  like  the 
Paris  and  Chicago  expositions  mark 
epochs  in  the  existence  of  France  and 
America ;  but  without  exaggeration,  it  is 


safe  to  assert  that  the  colossal  experience 
of  perhaps  the  half  of  her  people  has 
modified  the  conscience  of  France,  and 
that  similar!}*  when  the  gates  of  the 
World's  Fair  are  closed,  the  American 
conscience  will  be  altered.  But  how  ? 

Driving  back  to  Chicago  that  foggy  Oc- 
tober afternoon,  this  problem,  often  pre- 
sented to  my  mind  during  my  visit  to 
that  astonishing  rendezvous  of  industry 
and  art,  pleasure  and  study,  took  hold  of 
me  with  even  more  intensity.  Although 
early,  electric  lamps  burning  in  the  streets 
lighted  my  way,  and  lost  in  dreaming, 
I  saw  through  the  open  window  bits  of 
the  suburbs  passing  successively  before 
me.  Through  the  fog  they  seemed  like 
fragmentary  carvings  presenting  them- 
selves to  my  glance  one  ofter  another. 
Then  I  saw  groups  of  little,  low,  wooden 
houses  march  by  like  camps  of  settlers 
taking  possession  of  a  new  territory  ;  then 
colossal  buildings  of  brick  and  iron  ;  huge 
cliffs  holed  with  luminous  windows, 
against  which  the  fog  broke  like  a  sea  of 
vapor  ;  then  bits  of  park — kept  like  those 
of  London  ;  then  vague  lots,  enclosed  by 
wooden  fences  smeared  with  posters,  with 
cows  inside  munching  the  scanty  grass; 
then  more  hovels,  more  buildings  ;  here  a 
concrete  sidewalk,  carefully  tended,  there 
a  battered  one  of  wood  ;  one  moment  a 
properly  paved  street,  the  next  a  sea  of 
mud  where  the  grip-car  tracks  glistened 
with  a  metallic  luster.  Never  has  the  un- 
finished state  of  that  enormous  city  im- 
pressed me  more.  A  hundred  years  ago 


THE    ILLINOIS. 


A   FAREWELL    TO    THE    WHITE   CITY. 


135 


supreme  result,  a  final  apotheo- 
sis. The  White  City  of  Jack- 
son Park,  with  its  palatial  mon- 
uments of  human  achievement 
lacking  only  in  stability,  stand- 
ing at  the  gates  of  a  city  still  in- 
complete, is  not  an  apotheosis,  it 
is  a  hope.  It  is  not  an  end,  it  is 
a  commencement.  It  is  not  a 
result,  it  is  a  promise.  Then  I 
felt  that  was  not  the  only  lesson 
the  fete  of  those  six  months 
would  teach,  but  one  at  least  of 
its  lessons,  the  most  general,  the 
most  accessible  perhaps,  the  one 
for  which  all  of  us  who  have  had 
the  ecstatic  pleasure  of  that  vis- 


it did  not  exist. 
Twenty  years  ago  it 
had  ceased  to  exist. 
It  began  again.  It 
grows  still.  One  sees 
it  grow,  like  a  trop- 
ical tree  which  be- 
tween sunrise  and 
sunset  sprouts  up- 
ward the  height  of  a 
hand.  By  a  singular 
contrast,  the  White 
City  I  left,  con- 
structed only  for  a 
season  and  finished 

to  the  minutest  detail,  must  disappear 
forever,  while  the  black  city,  which  will 
endure  forever,  is  only  at  its  commence- 
ment. Strange  contrast.  I  felt  it  was 
unique.  I  saw  it  presented  the  excep- 
tional feature  of  this  exposition,  distin- 
guishing it  from  all  others.  Whether 
held  at  London,  Vienna  or  Paris,  however 
vast  their  buildings,  those  other  exposi- 
tions were  only  the  inferior  or  momentary 
adornment  of  a  city  far  more  beautiful 
and  already  finished.  Monuments  conse- 
crated by  centuries  arose  beside  them 
whose  splendor  defied  comparison  with 
edifices  temporarily  reared  by  the  caprice 
of  architects.  Those  expositions  were  a 


FROM    THE   TOP   OF   THE   ADMINISTRATION    BUILDING. 

ion  must  remain  forever  indebted  to  those 
who  have  produced  it. 

A  promise,  I  said.  What  promise? 
And  to  whom  given  ?  To  the  men  of  this 
country  first.  Chicago,  the  enormous 
town  we  see  expanding,  the  gigantic  plant 
which  grows  before  our  eyes  seems  now 
in  this  wonderfully  new  country  to  be  in 
advance  of  the  age.  But  is  not  this  more 
or  less  true  of  all  America  ?  Yes.  This 
vast,  ingenuous  commonwealth,  fed  un- 
ceasingly by  heterogeneous  elements 
which  it  must  assimilate ;  this  vast  civ- 
ilization, with  its  contrasts  of  extreme  re- 
finement and  primitive  crudity,  is  unmis- 
takably symbolized  by  its  central  city — 


i36 


A   FAREWELL    TO    THE    WHITE   CITY. 


miracle  of  native  will  ;  summary  of  cal- 
culating, panting  energy  and  inexhaust- 
ible impulse.  But  to  what  end  does  this 
impulse  tend,  toward  what  goal  marches 
the  new  world,  which  the  cold,  feverish 
indomitable  energy  of  America  is  con- 
structing ?  After  vigorously  organizing 
the  universe  of  materialism,  is  that  ener- 
gy capable  of  reaching  that  supreme  goal 
of  a  struggling  nation,  the  creation  of  a 
national  art,  the  perfection  of  an  ideal, 
surpassing  the  needs  of  the  hour  ?  That 
question  seldom  presents  itself  so  clearly, 


but  it  is  the  question  which  agitates 
the  mind  of  ever}'  patriotic  Yankee.  It 
explains  the  feverish,  often  touching  crav- 
ing for  culture  which  drives  Americans  in 
bewildering,  tantalizing  haste  towards 
the  libraries,  theaters  and  museums  of 
Europe.  Because  he  feels  this  hunger 
gnawing  in  his  heart,  the  American  re- 
ceives supersensitively  the  strictures  of 
critics,  incapable  of  appreciating  his  will- 
ingness to  learn,  his  longing  for  knowl- 
edge, his  passion  for  a  superior  civiliza- 
tion. But  what  form  shall  this  civiliza- 


*    1 


IN    THH    HOKTICri/lURAI,    liUII.DING. 


A   FAREWELL    TO    THE    WHITE  CITY. 


137 


LOOKING   WEST   DOWN   THE   NORTH   POND. 


tion  take?  Shall  it  be  a  mere  copy  of 
things  European  ?  The  national  con- 
science rebels  against  this  thought.  It 
feels  its  work  to  be  the  creation  of  a  per- 
sonal ideal.  That  is  why,  side  by  side 
with  a  passionate  craving  for  French, 
German  and  English  culture,  we  find 
spiteful  resentment  against  those  who  in- 
stead of  studying,  merely  imitate.  Emer- 
son understood  this  when  he  wrote: 
' '  Why  need  we  copy  the  Doric  or  the 
Gothic  model  ?  Beauty,  convenience, 
grandeur  of  thought  are  as  near  to  us  as 
to  any." 

That  is  the  promise  the  White  City 
leaves.  Coming  after  so  many  others,  this 
exposition  is  indisputable  evidence  that 
the  off-shoots  of  antiquarianism  trans- 
planted here  by  three  centuries  of  im- 
migration will,  when  given  leisure  blos- 
som, in  this  virgin  soil,  into  beautiful 
flowers.  These  enormous,  splendid  palaces 
of  a  day,  simply  and  ingeniously  con- 
structed, reared  with  Aladdin-like  magic 
by  the  shores  of  this  free  inland  sea,  and 
announcing,  as  they  do,  the  birth  of  a 
new  art,  do  not  realize  the  absolute  orig- 
inality of  Emerson's  dream,  but  they 
prove  that  the  merely  colossal,  unaccom- 
panied by  grace  and  symmetry,  can  no 
longer  satisfy  the  taste  of  their  builders. 
To  the  innumerable  spectators,  gathered 
from  the  four  corners  of  their  stupendous 
country,  those  buildings  have  given,  one 


might  say,  an  indelible  object  lesson. 
Speaking  of  exposition  crowds,  some  one 
suggested  to  me  that  "the  people  were  so 
anxious  to  see  everything  that  they  forgot 
to  be  amused."  That  is  not  entirely  true. 
There  were  many  merry  faces  there,  but 
everywhere  was  the  serious  attention  of 
minds  imperfectly  grasping  new  ideas. 
In  the  gaze  of  those  rustics  there  was  less 
pride  than  curiosity — or  shall  I  call  it  the 
awakening  of  a  dor- 
mant  mind,  first 
learning  how  to  com- 
prehend ?  They  saw 
before  them  the  work 
of  their  own  country- 
men, who  can  repeat 
it.  Those  buildings 
must  vanish  tomor- 
row ;  but  why  should 
their  durable  coun- 
terparts not  be 
reared  ?  What  el  se 
were  the  births  of 
the  great  schools  of 
antiquity  and  me- 
disevalism,  what  else 
the  enchanting 
renaissance?  Had 
the  Greeks  who  laid 
the  ponderous  stones 
of  the  Acropolis  of 
T  y  r  i  n  t  h  u  s  any  DIDN>T  GET  HIS  MONEV,S 
thought  but  of  de-  WORTH. 


138 


A   FAREWELL    TO    THE    WHITE    CITY. 


MUTUAL    CONGRATULATIONS. 

fense  and  employment  for  their  energy  ? 
Did  the  fugitives  of  the  catacombs,  hid- 
ing their  religion  in  the  earth,  dream 
of  building  cathedrals  ?  What  care  had 
mediaeval  Italians  but  for  the  thickness 
of  their  walls  ?  Then  an  impulse  was 
born  to  ornament  that  metropolis,  this 
church,  those  fortresses.  The  moment 
when  Greeks  desired  an  embellished  cit- 
adel, when  Christians  dreamed  of  a  basil- 
ica, when  Tuscans  conceived  a  beautiful 
stronghold,  the  Parthenon,  Notre  Dame 
and  the  Palazzo- Vecchio  of  Florence  were 
born.  It  was  only  a  question  of  years.  A 
national  desire  for  monuments  to  admire 
as  well  as  to  use,  an  artistic  capacity  able 
to  respond  to  this  need — that  is  the  entire 
genesis  of  the  national  lot.  The  White 
City  proves  the  possession  of  this  capac- 
ity. It  has  awakened  this  desire.  That 
is  its  hope.  That  is  its  promise. 

There  is,  however,  another  hope,  an- 
other promise.  Americans  have  not  been 
alone  amongst  the  streets  and  colonnades 
of  the  exposition  ;  we  Europeans  have 
come  also,  some  enthusiastically,  others 
defiantly,  none  indifferently.  To  us 
America  is  not  merely  unknown  land  we 
cross  for  recreation.  Careless  though  we 
be,  we  cannot  take  a  steamer  at  Havre,  or 


Southampton,  regardless  of  great  prob- 
lems, unmindful  that  the  mighty  ocean 
bears  us  towards  a  decisive  acquaintance 
with  the  greatest  example  of  audacious 
modernism. 

Two  equally  immeasurable,  equally 
uncontrollable  forces  disturb  old  Europe. 
One  is  democracy,  the  other  science.  Both 
toiling  through  centuries  with  ceaseless 
activity  are  transforming  our  world,  our 
heritage,  and  all  we  love.  What  will  they 
makeof  it?  We  know  the  world  in  which  we 
live  ;  we  know  the  worth  of  its  nobility 
and  grandeur ;  but  we  know  nothing  of  the 
world  those  unknown  toilers  are  elaborat- 
ing with  their  countless  hands,  irresistible 
as  those  of  the  old  Fates.  We  can  see 
those  terrible  hands  destroying ;  we  are 
ignorant  of  what  they  are  creating.  Why 
hide  the  fact  that  the  best  of  us — those 
ready  to  sacrifice  our  preferences  to  duty 
and  to  collaborate  with  the  future  — 
tremble  before  those  gloomy  powers,  and 
ask  if  their  reign  does  not  mark  the 
definite  decadence  of  the  great  races,  of 
humanity's  reason  for  existence?  Let  us 
take  two  simple  examples.  Does  democ- 
racy respect  disinterested  thought,  the 
cult  of  art  beyond  its  utilitarian  phase, 
letters,  or  scientific  speculation  incapable 
of  industrial  application? 

It  is  doubtful  whether  those  two  terri- 
ble geniuses  of  the  new  world  are  in 
accord.  If  they  are,  may  not  that  im- 
placable science 
be  the  murderer 
of  the  human 
heart,  and  by  de- 
veloping in  ex- 
treme the  positive 
side  of  knowl- 
edge, will  it  not 
diminish,  even 
destroy,  its  other 
aspects?  Is  it 
not  destined  to 
dry  up  the  source 
of  mysteries, 
where  for  ages 
the  soul  has 
quenched  its 
thirst  and  found 
its  vitality  and 
solace?  Will  the 
reign  of  science 
have  a  poetry? 
Will  it  have  a  re- 


BEWILDERED. 


A     FAREWELL    TO    THE    WHITE   CITY. 


139 


140 


A   FAREWELL    TO    THE    WHITE   CITY. 


ligion  ?  America  has  not  been  awed  by 
those  drudges  of  the  new  age.  The}T  have 
made  her.  Two  menacing,  vigorous  spon- 
sors, they  have  fondled  her  on  their  knees 
since  the  hour  of  her  birth.  She  was  a 
democracy  before  she  was  a  republic.  A 
democracy  founded  upon  science,  com- 
pelled from  the  first  to  exercise,  at  all 
cost,  the  most  drastic  methods,  and  bring 
the  machines  of  science  to  bear  upon  a 
virgin  nature.  That  is  why  this  county- 
is  so  intensely  interesting  for  us.  The 
chance  of  history  has  made  her  try  ex- 
periments in  which  we  recognize,  not  the 
anticipated  design  of  our  future — the 
conditions  are  too  different — but  a  pro- 
phetic reflection  of  that  future.  Too  many 
signs  prove  that  a  democracy  cannot 
easily  sever  the  manacles  of  utility,  and 
attain  the  ideal.  That  is  demonstrated 
too  clearly  by  the  rude  American  cities, 
so  barren  of  monuments,  so  scanty  in 
structures  of  delicate  and  simple  style,  or 
any  style  whatever.  But  the  delightful 
grace  of  the  White  City  proves  that  de- 
mocracy is  not  incapable  of  conceiving, 
loving,  creating  an  ideal. 

The  Chicago  congresses  of  the  past  six 
months  indicate  that  democracy  suffers 
from  intellectual  homesickness.  I  know 
no  book  more  comforting  than  the  little 
pamphlet  published  here  last  April  and 


bearing  this  motto:  "Not  Things,  but 
Men."  Its  offical  title  is  "The  General 
Programme  of  the  World's  Congresses  of 
1893."  What  a  thirst  for  knowledge  it 
contains,  what  a  respect  for  all  that  con- 
stitutes the  spiritual  and  moral  treasure- 
house  of  humanity,  and  what  a  sign  of 
the  invincible  vitality  of  Christianity,  even 
in  face  of  the  triumphs  of  science,  is  that 
religious  parliament  held  in  the  very 
capitol  of  the  positivist,  industrial  uni- 
verse. The  results  of  that  parliament 
were  inadequate.  It  did  not  reach,  it 
could  not  reach  a  practical  and  satisfactory 
conclusion,  but  it  will  remain  the  surpass- 
ing excellence  of  that  exposition.  In  the 
words  of  the  poet,  it  is  the  hand  of  a  clock 
pointing  from  the  spire  of  a  huge  cathedral 
towards  heaven.  Seated  in  the  amphi- 
theater of  that  parliament  hall,  and  seeing 
a  multitude  of  attentive  faces  about  me — 
amiable  faces  of  tradesmen  and  laborers — 
I  felt  the  certainty  revive,  which  told  me 
that  in  spite  of  the  moral  and  mental 
transformation  the  human  heart  is  under- 
going, it  need  not  fear  for  its  most  pre- 
cious or  most  mournful  gems.  I  felt  that 
certainty  revive  again  during  my  last 
visit  to  the  palaces  of  the  White  City.  I 
long  to  see  it  again  as  I  left  it,  in  its 
dreamy  whiteness,  enshrouded  by  its 
weird,  gray  mist,  and  behind  it  the  sun. 


LESSONS    OF    THE   FAIR. 


BY  JOHN  J.  INGALLS. 


X  TIGHT  is  the  magician  of  the  Fair. 
1>I  By  day  the  illusion  is  not  com- 
plete. The  outlines  and  masses,  the 
groups  and  spaces,  the  vistas  and  per- 
spectives, the  lawns  and  the  lagoons,  are 
superb  and  inspiring  ;  but  the  sun  is  piti- 
less and  reveals  too  much.  The  glare  be- 
wilders, and  the  absence  of  color  and  lack 
of  horizon  leave  a  vague  sense  of  desola- 
tion, like  that  which  broods  over  tropical 
cities  in  the  desert.  The  monotonous 
multitudes  that  incessantl3r  wander  to  and 
fro,  apparently  without  interest  or  enjoy- 
ment in  the  marvels  by  which  they  are 
surrounded,  become  oppressive.  The  un- 
speakable debris  of  innumerable  lunch- 
eons seems  incompatible  with  the  terraces 
of  temples  and  the  porticos  of  palaces  ; 
but  the  Fair  was  made  for  man,  and  not 
man  for  the  Fair.  These  are  the  flies  in 
the  incomparable  amber,  the  rift  in  the 
lute,  the  flaws  in  the  gem,  necessary 


to  bring  it  within  that  limitation  in 
all  earthly  achievements  which  forbids 
perfection.  But  when  evening  conies, 
and  the  shadows  ascend  from  the  feet  of 
the  golden  statue  of  the  Genius  of  the 
Republic  to  the  wings  upon  her  globe  and 
the  cap  upon  her  spear,  and  the  effigies 
above  the  great  gateway  stand  dim  against 
the  eastern  firmament,  then  the  reign  of 
enchantment  begins.  The  discordant  and 
inarticulate  murmurs  are  succeeded  by 
silence  made  audible  by  the  whisper  of 
falling  waters.  The  darkness  becomes 
mysteriously  luminous.  Distant  domes 
grow  translucent  with  interior  flame.  Cor- 
nice and  pediment  and  colonnade  are 
traced  in  golden  beads  of  fire.  The  pallid 
pinnacles  are  etched  upon  the  ebony  sky, 
and,  suddenly,  "the  long  light  shakes 
across  the  lakes,  and  the  wild  cataract 
leaps  in  glory  !  " 

Deep  beyond  words,  at  such  an  hour,  is 


142 


the  subtle  pathos  of  this 
transitory  beauty  and 
splendor ;  of  this  frag- 
ile architecture,  so  soon 
to  vanish,  like  the  insub- 
stantial fabric  of  Pros- 
pero's  vision,  and  leave  not 
a  rack  behind:  gleaming  as 
a  marvelous  mirage  above  an 
alien  horizon,  only  to  disappear 
and  be  seen  no  more.  That  so 
much  glory  should  be  evanes- 
cent, like  a  flower,  a  rainbow  or 
a  radiant  sunset,  seems  an  incon- 
gruous catastrophe.  It  realizes  Burns' 
epitaph  on  the  snowflake  in  the  river 
—  "one  moment  white,  then  gone  for- 
ever." But  its  magnificence  is  imper- 
ishable. It  can  never  die.  These  struc- 
tures are  as  immortal  as  the  Alhambra 
or  the  Parthenon,  and  more  fortunate 
than  these,  because  they  will  know  neither 
decrepitude  nor  decay.  Art  will  retain 
their  lineaments  and  proportions,  and 
they  will  survive  in  the  memories  of  the 
millions  who  have  been  charmed  and 
elevated  by  their  contemplation. 

The  wonder  that  these 
noble,  artistic  con- 
ceptions were  real- 
ized at  all  is  in- 
^  .3^-^**  creased  by  the 
fact  that  they 
were  realized  in 
Chicago.  It  would 
have  seemed  pos- 
sible in  ancient  and 
opulent  cities,  with 
'  traditions,  superflu- 
ous wealth,  hereditary 
culture,  galleries,  mu- 
r  seumsandschoolsofart; 
but  Chicago  !  The  orig- 
inal suggestion  of  the  name 
was  received  with  mingled  derision  and 
disdain.  Its  competitors  affected  incredu- 
lity. It  was  not  serious.  It  was  a  fron- 
tier joke,  an  advertisement,  a  bid  for  noto- 
riety. The  city  was  so  far  inland  that 
failure  was  inevitable.  And  after  the  lo- 
cation was  determined,  the  cynics  sneered 
and  the  scoffers  jeered,  and  instead  of 
hearty,  generous,  cordial,  patriotic  coop- 
eration, there  was  indifference,  jealousy 
and  malevolence. 

Even  those  who  knew  the  wealth,  cour- 
age and  audacious  energy  of  Chicago  held 


their  breath  for  a  while.  The 
time  was  short.  The  amount 
of  money  required  was  enor- 
mous, although  the  largest 
sum  named  was  one-third 
less  than  the  amount  that 
has  been  expended.  The 
site  selected  was  remote  and 
repulsive.  But  the  undaunt- 
ed spirit  that  had  once  lifted 
the  city  bodily  out  of  the  mo- 
rass in  which  it  stood,  and  once 
rebuilt  it  from  the  ashes  of  the 
most  destructive  conflagration  of 
modern  times,  proved  equal  to  every 
emergency.  Moderate  success  would  be 
worse  than  absolute  failure.  It  was  nec- 
essary not  only  to  refute  the  prophecies 
of  rivals,  but  to  surpass  expectation  and 
amaze  the  world.  To  enclose  a  barren 
waste,  prosaic  as  their  stockyards,  and 
cover  it  with  structures  rude  as  their  cattle- 
sheds  and  grain  elevators,  would  have 
been  a  cheap  and  practical  solution  of  the 
problem.  It  would  have  afforded  space 
for  exhibits,  room  for  spectators,  and  re- 
munerative salvage  at  the  close.  But  the 
men  who  had  built  the  railroads  and  ware- 
houses, and  grown  rich  by  the  barter  in 
cattle  and  hogs  and  corn,  sawthegreat- 
nessof  the  opportunity  which  stood 
at  their  gates.  They  summoned 
a  congress  of  artists,  architects, 
painters,  sculptors,  landscape 
gardeners,  and  commissioned 
them  to  design  and  execute 
a  scheme  commensurate 
with  the  objects  for  which 
it  was  intended  :  the  as- 
semblage of  the  highest 
achievements  of  civ- 
ilization; the  frater- 
nal rivalry  of  na- 
tions; the  uplift- 
ing of  the  hu- 
man  race. 
The  concep- 
tion w  a  s 
Napoleonic, 
and  the  result 
is  an  epoch  in 
tory.  Other  exposi- 
tions will  be  judged  as 
they  approach  or  recede 
from  this  ideal.  Chicago  is 
no  longer  provincial.  She  has 
established  her  claim  to  take  first 


his- 


LESSONS  OF   THE  FAIR. 


rank  among  the  great  capitals  of  the  world. 
With  characteristic  ardor  the  twenty- 
second  anniversary  of  the  great  fire  was 
observed  as  "Chicago  day,"  when  the 
largest  multitude  ever  assembled  within 
a  space  so  circumscribed  subjected  the  ar- 
rangements for  public  convenience,  com- 
fort and  accommodation  to  the  severest 
test.  It  was  an  inundation  of  humanity, 
sweeping  along  every  avenue,  overflow- 
ing upon  the  roofs  and  terraces  and  or- 
namental reservations  as  resistlessly  as 
the  current  of  the  Mississippi  river 
when  the  June  rise  conies  down.  The 
restraint  and  discipline  were  remark- 
able. It  was  like  a  veteran  army  on 
the  march  or  in  the  bivouac,  without 
captains  or  commanders.  There  was 
neither  disorder  nor  rude  and  selfish 
disregard  of  common  rights.  Court- 
iers in  the  garden  alleys  of  Versailles 
or  Fontainebleau  could  not  have  been 
more  deferential  and  observant  of  the 
decorum  of  place  and  occasion  than 
these  obscure  and  anomrmous  myriads 
of  unknown  laborers  from  the  bench 
and  the  forge  and  the  mill ; 
country  shop-keepers, 
and  sedate  farmers 
from  the  prairies  of 
the  Great  Valley. 
The  demonstration 
was  a  signal  and  un- 
precedented triumph, 
not  alone  of  Chicago, 
but  for  the  new  empire 
of  the  west,  of  which 
Chicago  is  the  foreor- 
dained metropolis. 
Surveying  these  un- 
awed  multitudes  amid 
the  unwonted  splendor 
and  majesty  of  their 
environment,  it  seemed 
incredible  that  the  fab- 
ric of  this  civilization 
had  been  reared  in  the 
life-time  of  a  single  gen- 
eration ;  that  there  were 
men  in  the  throng  who 
could  remember  when 
this  gorgeous  arena  was 
the  worthless  suburb  of  a 
squalid  hamlet  upon  the 
,  far  frontier ;  that  Oliver 
^  Wendell  Holmes  had  be- 
gun to  charm  the  world 


with  song,  and  Gladstone  had 
commenced  his  extraordinary 
parliamentary  career  before  the  name  of 
Chicago  was  written  upon  the  map. 

Any  attempt  to  measure  or  estimate 
the  lessons  of  the  Fair,  its  educational  re- 
sults and  material  benefits  must  be  pre- 
mature. We  know  what  the  investment 
has  been,  but  what  the  profits  will  be  is 
conjectural.  They  will  probably  be  indi- 
rect rather  than  direct,  and  incapable  of 
computation  upon  the  ledger.  They  will 
be  gradually  unfolded  in  the  future  con- 
dition of  the  national  life.  The  number 
of  those  w7ho  have  seriously  studied  and 
compared  the  exhibits  is  very  small.  It 
is  doubtful  if  one  hundred  persons  will  see 
the  entire  exhibition  and  subject  it  to 
analysis.  B}'  the  majority  of  visitors  it 
has  not  been  attempted.  The  immensity 
is  appaling.  Minute  inspection  is  impos- 
sible. It  is  an  embarrassment  of  riches 
from  which  the  spectator  shrinks  in  de- 
spair. The  visits  are  mostly  brief  and 
without  previous  preparation,  and  for 
pleasure  rather  than  advantage.  To  mill- 
ions it  is  only  a  carnival,  a  spectacle,  a 
pageant  to  be  enjoyed  for  a  Slimmer  holi- 
day. They  stroll  through  the  crowded 


144 


LESSONS  OF    THE  FAIR. 


halls,  glancing  casually  at  some  striking 
object  and  then  yielding  to  the  invincible 
fascination  of  the  exterior,  wander  by  the 
lake  and  the  lagoons,  returning  again  and 
again  to  the  entrancing  Court,  which  sat- 
isfies the  unspoken  aspirations  of  the  soul 
for  unattainable  beauty  and  will  be  forever 
luminous  in  memory  with  that  "light 
which  never  was  on  sea  or  shore — the  con- 
secration and  the  poet's  dream."  Others 
succumb  to  the  harm- 
less seductions  of  the 
Midway  Plaisance, 
which  is  full  of  human 
interest,  redeemed  from 
the  commonplace  by 
Hagenbeck's  marvel- 
ous display  of  subju- 
gated lions,  and  the 
Ferris  wheel,  whose 
huge  circumference 
seems  like  a  part  of  the 
solar  system.  Here 
Fatima  and  the  houris 
smile  upon  the  jeunesse 
doree  of  the  Dakota 
plains  and  the  Missouri 


most  favored  portion  of  the  globe.  We 
stand  on  the  summit  of  time.  Man  has 
never  receded.  Nations  have  decayed ; 
dynasties  have  perished ;  governments 
have  expired  ;  races  have  become  extinct; 
but  man  has  moved,  physically,  intellect- 
ually and  spiritually,  onward  and  up- 
ward. Had  the  exposition  taught  no  other 
instruction  than  this,  it  would  have  been 
enough.  There  is  infinite  consolation  in 


A   GONDOLA   IN   THE   COURT   OF   HONOR. 

bottoms  ;  and  the  bad  men  from  Borneo, 
savages  from  the  Cannibal  islands,  Al- 
gerians, Bedouins,  Turks,  Indians,  Lap- 
landers and  Javanese  represent  the  man- 
ners and  customs  and  costumes  of  their 
respective  countries  with  reasonable  ac- 
curacy for  moderate  compensation. 

But  whether  in  the  Court  of  Honor,  or 
the  Midwa}-,  or  the  Palace  of  Manufac- 
tures and  the  Liberal  Arts,  the  most  ob- 
tuse observer  cannot  fail  to  perceive  that 
the  path  of  humanity  has  been  upward 
from  the  beginning  ;  that  every  century 
has  been  better  than  that  which  pre- 
ceded ;  that  development  and  progress 
are  the  laws  of  the  race  ;  and  that  we  are 
living  in  the  best  age  of  history  and  the 


THE   PERISTYLE    FROM   THE 
TOP   OF   THE    LIBERAL   ARTS. 

the  precept.    The  strong- 
est faith  often  falters  in 
the  presence  of  the  ignor- 
ance, vice,  poverty,  mis- 
ery and   folly  of  modern 
society,    and    pessimism 
seem  s  the  only  creed ; 
but  doubt  is  banished  here.     Never  be- 
fore have  the  beneficent  energies,    char- 
ity,  education,    religion,   been  .so   active 
and  efficient  as  now  ;    never  before  have 
the  means  of  knowledge  been  so  nearly 
adequate  to  the  desire  to  know,  or  the  op- 
portunities of  happiness  so  nearly  com- 
mensurate with  the  capacity  to  enjoy. 

Nor  can  anyone  fail  to  be  impressed 
with  the  thought  that  man  has  advanced 
further  and  more  rapidly  in  the  last  fifty 
years,  than  in  the  previous  fifty  centuries. 
The  rule  of  human  progress  appears  to  be 
spasmodic  rather  than  constant  and 
gradual.  The  condition  remains  station- 
ary for  an  interval,  followed  by  a  period 
of  intense  and  violent  activity.  It  is  like 


LESSONS  OF   THE  FAIR. 


145 


an  intermittent  spring  that  discharges  its 
contents  and  ceases  to  flow  till  its  reser- 
voir is  filled  again,  or  ground  that  lies 
fallow  after  an  abundant  harvest  while 
its  fertility  is  renewed. 

Without  disparaging  the  great  discov- 
eries and  inventions  of  the  past,  the 
mariner's  compass,  the  printing-press, 
the  telescope,  the  steam-engine,  and  the 
cotton-gin,  which  have  rendered  modern 
civilization  possible,  it  is  not  perhaps  too 
much  to  say  that  the  exposition  conclu- 
sively shows  that  those  of  the  present 
epoch  surpass  in  interest  and  importance 
all  former  achievements  of  the  human 
mind.  The  application  of  steam  to  land 
and  water  tiansportation,  which  has  rev- 
olutionized the  commerce  of  the  world  ; 
the  telegraph  and  telephone,  which  have 
annihilated  time  and  space ;  the  spec- 
troscope, which  has  detected  the  secrets 
of  the  universe ;  the  use  of  anaesthetics, 
which  has  conquered  pain  and  robbed 
death  of  its  terrors  ;  agricultural  machin- 
ery, which  has  subjugated  the  desert ; 
truss,  tubular  and  suspension  bridges;  the 
application  of  electricity  for  light,  heat 
and  power;  photography ; the  phonograph ; 
the  typewriter  and  the  sewing-machine, 


these  are  a  few  of  the  intellectual  trophies 
of  an  era  extending  back  no  further  than 
the  incorporation  of  Chicago,  and  the 
coronation  of  Queen  Victoria.  And  they 
have  all  been  in  the  direction  of  enriching 
and  enlarging  the  daily  life  of  the  com- 
mon people,  alleviating  its  harsh  con- 
ditions and  equalizing  the  injustice  of 
destiny.  The  humblest  artisan  today 
enjoys  facilities  for  improvement,  travel, 
knowledge,  health  and  happiness  that 
monarchs  could  not  command  from  their 
treasuries  when  America  was  discovered 
four  centuries  ago.  The  New  York  and 
Pennsylvania  workingmen's  cottages  con- 
tain conveniences  and  comforts  that  were 
then  absent  from  the  palaces  of  kings. 
Free  schools  and  universities  afford  to 
the  poor  ample  access  to  the  store-houses 
of  learning  that  were  once  the  exclusive 
possession  of  the  rich.  Instruction  in 
hygiene  and  the  laws  of  health  have 
lengthened  the  term  of  human  life.  The 
multitude  of  scientific  applications  and 
laboratory  devices  have  diminished  the 
hours  of  toil  and  left  more  leisure  for  rest, 
study  and  recreation.  The  harvest  no 
longer  yields  to  the  sickle,  nor  the  globe 
to  the  furrow  of  the  weary  plowman, 


THK    PIER    AND   TRAVELLING   SIDEWALK. 


146 


LESSONS  OF   THE  FAIR. 


but  the  jocund  farmer  drives  his  team 
afield,  plowing  and  planting  and  reap- 
ing with  appliances  that  have  made  agri- 
culture a  sedentary  occupation.  In  all 
that  makes  life  valuable  and  worth  liv- 
ing, the  intelligent  American  mechanic 
and  wage-worker  live  longer,  in  a  single 
year,  than  did  Methusalah  in  all  his  slow 
and  stagnant  centuries. 

The  emancipation  of  the  American 
•woman  is  practically  complete.  The  ten- 
dency from  subordination  to  equality  has 


than  of  merit.  It  would  have  obtained 
wider  recognition  had  it  been  subjected  to 
the  general  conditions  of  competition, 
and  relieved  from  the  dwarfy  association 
of  a  discouraging  mass  of  commonplace 
mediocrity.  It  is  more  obvious  now  than 
ever  before  that  woman  has  no  separate 
intellectual  functions,  and  that  her  place 
in  the  world  is  with  man  ;  that  their  in- 
terests and  destiny  are  mutual ;  that  they 
are  auxiliaries  and  not  rivals,  competitors 
and  not  antagonists. 

Historically,  the  most  interesting  and 
impressive  feature  of    the  exposition  is 
the  Convent  of  La  Rabida,  with  its  doc- 
uments,   portraits,   relics  and   memorials 
of  Columbus.     A  truer  dramatic   insight 
would  have  given  it  a  more   central  and 
prominent  location.     The  sandy  promon- 
tory with  its  sea  wall  of  rugged  rock  and 
terrace  of  tropical  plants  is  artis- 
tic,  and   the   site    may   have 
been  selected  in  pursuance 
of  the  original  design  of 
the  architects,  that  the 


ART    GALLERY. 


been  rapid,  and  her 
exhibit  marks  its  tri- 
umphant consummation. 
For  ages  theplaything,  or  the 
slave  of  man,  she  is  at  last,  in  the 
United  States,  his  acknowledged 
equal  in  everything  except  political  sov- 
ereignty, and  this  distinction  will  soon 
be  obliterated.  But  to  the  impartial,  un- 
prejudiced, and  disinterested  observer, 
which  ever  way  his  convictions  may  be, 
woman's  part  in  the  great  exposition 
has  been  a  disappointment.  She  has 
had  ample  scope  and  verge  enough. 
Vast  space  was  ungrudgingly  accorded 
without  interference  or  divided  control, 
but  the  result  has  not  been  satisfactory. 
The  Woman's  building,  its  contents  and 
its  congresses,  have  been  an  object  lesson 
which  strikingly  illustrates  the  weak- 
nesses, defects,  infirmities  and  limitations 
of  woman's  nature  ;  the  want  of  execu- 
tive force,  of  self-restraint,  of  concentra- 
tion of  purpose,  of  comprehensive  gener- 
alization, and  the  substitution  of  a  super- 
fluous multiplicity  of  petty  and  trivial 
details.  Much  worth}-  work  has  been 
done  by  women,  but  it  has  suffered  be- 
cause of  the  demand  that  it  should  be 
judged  by  the  standard  of  sex  rather 


main  entrance  should  be  from  the  lake 
front,  through  the  Court  of  Honor,  but 
its  environment  is  deplorably  unfortun- 
ate. Had  it  been  placed  where  the  Vic- 
toria House  stands,  and  the  caravels 
moored  in  the  dock  with  the  boat  of  the 
Vikings  and  the  brick  warship,  the  ef- 
fect would  have  been  greatly  enhanced. 
Interest  naturally  centers  about  the  com- 
mission of  Columbus,  protected  by  an 
armed  guard,  and  in  presence  of  which 
gentlemen  are  somewhat  theatrical!}-  re- 
quested to  uncover.  It  is  justly  described 
as  the  most  important  paper  in  our  his- 
tory. Supplemented  by  the  charters  of 
the  Massachusetts  and  Virginia  colonies, 


LESSONS  OF  THE  FAIR. 


147 


the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  the 
collection  would  have  been  complete.  It 
would  have  accentuated  and  emphasized 
the  greatest  lesson  of  the  exposition — 
the  supremacy  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race. 

When  the  commission  was  signed  and 
Columbus  set  sail  on  his  memorable  voy- 
age, Spain  was  mistress  of  the  seas  and 
arbiter  of  the  destinies  of  Europe.  Cor- 
tez,  Pizarro,  De  Soto  and  Balboa  comple- 
ted the  discovery  and  conquest  of  the 
New  World,  while  England  was  yet  a  de- 
tached and  semi-barbarous  suburb,  with 
less  population  than  the  State  of  New 
York  today.  Shakespeare  was  born  sev- 
enty-two years  later,  and  when  Hamlet 
was  written  it  is  doubtful  if  there  were 
six  million  people  on  earth  who  could 
speak  or  understand  the  English  lan- 
guage. Debauched  by  the  incredible 
wealth  obtained  by  the  plunder  of  Mex- 
ico and  Peru,  Spain  has  declined  into  ser- 


vile decrepitude,  while  the  political  ideas 
and  institutions,  the  laws  and  the  litera- 
ture of  the  Anglo-Saxon  have  dominion 
over  four  hundred  and  fifty  million  people, 
occupying  one-fourth  part  of  the  land 
surface  of  the  earth.  Haughty  and  rapa- 
cious, it  has  displayed  the  highest  capac- 
ity for  conquest,  but  prefers  charters  to 
the  sword.  It  has  compelled  kings  to 
surrender  their  prerogatives  and  priests 
to  relinquish  their  authority.  Vast  as 
has  been  the  material  growth  and  devel- 
opment of  the  race,  its  chief  victories 
have  been  moral  and  intellectual.  It  has 
triumphed  b}'  the  dissemination  of  poten- 
tial ideas  and  just  precepts,  rather  than 
by  violence  and  force.  It  has  made  states 
powerful  by  making  them  free.  It  has 
made  men  fit  for  self-government  by  stim- 
ulating their  intelligence.  It  has  cor- 
rected the  evils  of  society  by  establishing 
liberty  of  conscience  For  the  divine 
right  of  tyrants  it  has  substituted  the 


HORTICULTURAL    BUILDING    FROM    THE    WOODED    ISLE. 


148 


LESSONS  OF   THE  FAIR. 


sovereignty  of  the  people.  To  such  a 
race  nothing  is  impossible.  It  recognizes 
obstacles  only  to  overcome  them.  It  per- 
ceives barriers  only  to  remove  them.  It 
pauses  in  its  career  only  to  meditate  new 
achievements. 

The  genius  of  the 
race  is  intensely  prac- 
tical. It  is  concerned 
with  the  solution  of 
material  problems. 
One  of  the  most  not- 
able facts  in  connec- 
tion with  the  exposi- 
tion is  that  nearly  all 
the  remarkable  inven- 
tions and  discoveries 
of  the  recent  epoch,  to 
which  allusion  has 
been  made,  have  come 
from  English-speak- 
ing people,  and  large- 
ly from  the  United 
States.  Franklin, 


factures  without  the  conviction  that  we 
are  in  the  vestibule  of  the  temple,  and 
greater  wonders  are  yet  to  come.  That  a 
traveller  should  make  the  journey  from 
New  York  to  San  Francisco  between  sun- 
rise and  sunset,  is  not  so  incredible  as 


THE   AQUARIUM. 

Fulton,  Morse,  Field,  Howe,  Bell,  McCor- 
mick  and  Edison  have  accomplished  re- 
sults of  immeasurable  value  to  mankind. 
They  have  gone  so  far  that  it  sometimes 
seems  as  if  the  limit  had  been  reached, 
•  and  that  progress  must  be  at  an  end. 

But  the  exposition  is  not  history  alone. 
It  is  inspiration  and  prophecy.  No  one 
can  witness  the  marvels  in  the  buildings 
of  Electricity,  Transportation  and  Manu- 


COLONXADK   IN    THE 
FISHERIES 

would  have  been  the 
prediction  when  Sut- 
ter  discovered  gold  in 
California,  that  it 
would  be  made  before 
the  close  of  the  cent- 
ury, in  a  week,  with 
the  luxurious  appli- 
ances of  a  metropoli- 
tan hotel.  It  is  no 
longer  visionar}^  to 
affirm  that  the  mer- 
chant in  Boston  will 
converse  by  tele- 
phone with  his  cor- 
respondent in  Cal- 
cutta and  St.  Peters- 
burg, or  that  electricity  will  supplant 
steam  as  a  motive  power  for  propelling 
trains  on  land  and  ships  upon  the  sea. 
The  victories  of  the  future  are  to  be  in 
the  domain  of  the  application  of  science 
to  the  arts  of  human  life.  This  is  the 
secure  basis  for  that  universal  civilization 
which  is  the  hope  of  the  philanthropist 
and  the  dream  of  the  poet.  Prodigious  as 
has  been  our  progress,  it  is  depressing  to 


LESSONS  OF   THE  FAIR. 


reflect  how  much  remains  to  be  done.  Of 
the  fifteen  hundred  million  inhabitants 
of  the  earth,  more  than  one-half  are  yet 
living  in  huts  and  caves,  or  roaming  like 
beasts  unclad  without  shelter  or  home. 
Recognizing  the  brotherhood  of  man,  the 
times-spirit  is  striving  by  these  parlia- 
ments of  nations  to  accomplish  the  "  fed- 
eration of  the  world." 

The  thinkers  and  workers  of  this  era 
are  not  engaged  in  intellectual  speculation. 
The  World's  congresses,  from  which  so 
much  was  anticipated  at  the  exposition, 
were  a  disappointment.  They  were  inter- 
esting, but  they  made  no  lasting  im- 
pression upon  the  public  mind.  They 
contributed  little  to  the  knowledge  or  the 
entertainment  of  mankind.  The  congress 
of  religions  was  unique,  and  strikingly 
illustrated  the  decay  of  bigotry  and  the 
growth  of  toleration  which  accompany  the 
extension  of  the  intellectual  horizon. 
Whether  it  brought  the  followers  of  Christ, 
Mahomet,  Buddha  and  Confucius,  Catho- 
lics, Protestants  and  Pagans,  into  nearer 
fellowship,  or  promoted  the  establishment 
of  a  universal  religion,  doesnot  yetappear. 


While  the  aesthetic  sense  of  the  dominant 
race  is  strong,  and  its  imagination  active 
and  bold,  it  is  evident  from  the  exhibits 
at  the  Fair  that  neither  are  creative  and 
constructive  in  literature  and  art.  Archi- 
tecture, scripture  painting  and  poetry 
seem  to  have  culminated  and  passed  their 
zenith.  Certainly  for  centuries  they  have 
made  no  progress.  Architecture  has  re- 
produced in  the  Palace  of  the  Fine  Arts 
the  outlines,  proportions  and  ornaments 
of  the  Grecian  Ionic  style.  The  Apollo 
Belvedere,  the  Laoccon  and  the  Venus  of 
Milo  remain  the  despair  of  sculpture, 
whose  excellence  isjudged  as  it  approach- 
es or  departs  from  those  ancient  models. 
The  Transfiguration  and  the  Sistine  Ma- 
donna have  no  rivals  in  modern  painting. 
Poetry  flowered  three  centuries  ago  in 
Shakespeare,  and  Tennyson,  Dickens  and 
Thackeray  have  left  no  successors.  Science 
has  become  more  dramatic  than  art. 
Engines,  ships  and  towers  of  flame  are 
the  poems  of  today.  Utility  is  the  highest 
beauty,  and  the  genius  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  finds  expression  in  action  and  not 
in  reverie. 


r  mr 

:  **..  .. , 


THE  CENTER   OF    THE    MACMONNIRS    FOUNTAIN. 


•\ 


A   WHITE   UMBRELLA   AT    THE     FAIR. 


BY  F.  HOPKINSON  SMITH. 


T  was  at  the  Fifty- 
Seventh  street  en- 
trance.    I  had  pre- 
sented my  pass,  for 
the  first  time;  a  sort 
of  trip  -  slip   affair, 
bound    in   a    book, 
embellished  by  a  photograph  of  myself, 
and  stamped  by  the  powers  that  be,  guar- 
anteeing me  the  free  use  of  the  grounds 
for  every  day  of  the  great  Exposition.     I 
had  just  edged  my  sketch-trap  through 
a  complicated   turnstile  that  looked  like 
an  umbrella  frame  turned  upside  down 
and  wide  open,  when  a  }-oung  man,  with 
gold  letters  on  his  hat,  called  out : 
"  Say  \  Yer  can't  take  that  in  ! " 
"  Can't  take  what  in?" 
"That  tripod." 
"What  tripod?" 

1 '  That  there  tripod  that  you've  got  cov- 
ered up  there.  Kodaks  is  two  dollars. 
Cameras  is  ten." 

I  mildly  denied  the  suspected  smug- 
gling, and  then,  as  a  smile  of  unbelief 
broke  over  his  face,  insisted,  perhaps  too 
pointedly,  that  the  suspicious  combina- 
tion contained  onljr  the  staff  of  my  white 
umbrella  ;  its  grateful,  protecting  cover  ; 
my  easel  with  adjustable  legs — perhaps 
misleading  to  the  unpracticed,  unartistic 
eye  before  me  ;  my  portfolio,  stool,  palette, 
ind  brush-case. 


But  the  3Toung  man  with  the  officially 
decorated  hat  knew  better.  He  had  grad- 
uated somewhere  or  other — or  expected  to 
— and  understood  his  business.  His  orders 
were  to  seize  everything  that  could  pos- 
sibly conceal  every  other  thing  that  might 
possibly  reproduce  any  of  the  beauty  and 
glory  of  the  white  city  within,  and — 
"  that  there  kit  couldn't  pass." 

The  designation  was  irritating.  It  sug- 
gested a  burglar's  outfit.  In  all  my 
travels  up  and  down  the  globe  my  beloved 
sketch-trap  had  never  before  been  stigma- 
tized as  a  "  kit." 

A  crowd  had  by  this  time  gathered,  a 
crowd  of  decidedly  opposite  purposes. 
One  section,  with  mone\T,  wanted  to  spend 
it  for  tickets  and  get  inside  the  grounds 
at  once.  This  section  was  anxious  to 
throw  me  over  the  fence  for  blocking  up 
the  turnstile.  The  other,  having  no 
money,  could  not  get  in,  and  would  have 
been  delighted  to  have  broken  the  monot- 
ony of  peeping  through  the  gates  by  wit- 
nessing a  free  fight  in  the  street  outside. 
This  section  wanted  me  to  protest  and  de- 
fend myself. 

One  cannot  fight  even  one  claw  of  an 
octopus,  and  so  I  disappointed  the  last 
half  of  the  mob  by  unlimbering  my  "  sus- 
pect ' '  on  the  sidewalk,  jointing  its  slender 
•legs,  erecting  the  umbrella,  and  occupy- 
ing with  mock  deliberation  the  easily  ad- 


A    WHITE   UMBRELLA   AT  THE  FAIR. 


152 


A    WHITE   UMBRELLA   AT   THE  FAIR. 


justed  stool.  After  the  agent  of  the 
Society  for  Fostering  the  Fine  Arts  in 
America  had  turned  my  brush-case  in- 
side out,  pawed  over  my  paint  rags,  ex- 
amined carefully  the  under  side  of  my 
color-box  for  a  hidden  lens,  and  consulted 
with  a  larger  and  more  important  official, 
with  less  hat  but  additional  buttons, 
I  passed  the  gate  —  that  gate  which  is 
commonly  supposed  to  welcome  the  world 
— and  mounted  the  steps  of  the  Art  Pal- 
ace, as  a  short  cut  to  the  Lagoon. 

I  wanted  to  paint  the  West  Porch,  with 
its  trees  and  hazy  distances,  to  me  the 
most  beautiful  of  all  these  entrances — 
entrances  of  a  building  whose  grandeur, 
sj'mmetry  and  faultless  decoration  will 
last  as  long  as  the  memory  of  the  great 
Exposition  itself,  even  if  it  does  not  out- 
live, in  the  grateful  remembrance  of  the 
American  people,  any  other  single  object 
within  the  boundaries  of  the  Fair  itself. 

I  had  barely  reached  the  center  of 
the  superb  rotunda,  the  light  falling  on 
groups  of  marble  and  of  bronze — in  fact, 
I  was  at  the  moment  stud\-ing  one  of 
Kerry's  panthers — when  a  second  agent 
of  the  "  Soc.  F.  F.  A.  in  A.  "  touched  me 
on  the  shoulder. 

"Sony,  sir;  but  you  can't  bring  that 
through  here." 

"  It  is  not  a  camera." 

1 '  I  know,  sir  (he  had  evidently  taken  a 
po?t-graduate  course) ;  but  nobody  is  al- 
Icvved  to  copy  pictures  here.  It's  let  to  a 
Philadelphia  concern." 


So  down  the  steps  I  go  again,  still  lug- 
ging my  much-abused  trap,  and  out  into 
the  blinding  blaze  of  light,  past  the  great 
statue  of  the  great  master  of  classic  times, 
who  courteously  hid  his  face  from  me, 
thereby  concealing  his  feelings  at  my 
treatment,  no  doubt ;  past  the  noble  statue 
of  Minerva,  who  looked  at  me  with  a  sad- 
dened expression,  indicativeof  sympathy  ; 
past  the  huge  white  lions  guarding  one 
portal  to  the  art  treasures  of  the  world — 
even  they  had  a  Haggenbecked  look,  as 
if  willing  to  obey  a  wave  of  my  hand, 
turn  head,  and  devour  the  Philadelphia 
— well,  devour  somebody — and  so  on  to 
a  quiet  nook  between  fresh  green  grass 
and  well-swept  gravel-walk,  beneath  the 
shadow  of  one  portico  of  the  superb 
structure.  Here  I  tender^  opened  my 
much-maligned  trap  and  began  work. 

Then  sweet  peace  settled  down  upon 
me  and  mine.  The  gentle  water-cart 
veered  half  a  point  and  sent  its  spray  just 
clear  of  my  feet.  The  little  launches  blew 
their  whistles  merrily  as  they  glided  by. 
A  gondolier,  wrhom  I  knew,  hailed  me  as 
he  sailed  past,  waving  his  hat.  The  cata- 
logue boy  leaned  over  the  railing  of  the 
corridor  above  my  head,  and  talked  respect- 
fully and  in  whispers  about  my  work  to  a 
pencil-seller,  adding  such  criticisms  as  : 
"That's  his  tail  he's  making  now — ain't 
it  splendid  !  "  while  even  the  valedictorian 
of  his  class,  who  was  snipping  half-fare 
tickets  inside  the  miniature  pagoda,  used 
as  a  pay-office  for  the  electric  launches, 


A    WHITE  UMBRELLA   A  T  THE  FAIR. 


153 


came  over  between  boats  and  was  good 
enough  to  remark  that  it  was  ' «  way  out 
of  sight." 

Suddenly  a  particularly  straight,  civil- 
spoken,  brass-bebuttoned  and  black- 
braided  person,  impressing  you  as  occupy- 
ing a  position  somewhere  between  an 
unusually  neat  park  policeman  and  a 
Fourth  of  July  militiaman,  stopped 
squarely  in  front  of  my  easel,  obliterating 
my  beautiful  lion  and  the  lovely  per- 
spective beyond,  and  delivered  himself 
as  follows  : 

' i  The  captain  of  the  guard  has  sent  me 
to  ask  by  whose  order  you  paint  here." 

I  looked  at  him  in  profound  astonish- 
ment  Inside  the  Art  Palace,  where 

the  descendant  of  William  Penn  had  mo- 
nopolized all  the  privileges — 3*es  ;  but  out 
here,  in  the  sunlight,  under  the  blue  sky, 
and  in  the  shadow  of  the  temple  of  my 
guild — decidedly,  no.  If  he  had  asked 
me  by  whose  order  I  had  neglected  it, 
without  opening  my  trap  and  beginning 
my  devotions  with  a  pencil  as  reverent  as 
I  would  have  followed  the  classic  lines  of 
the  Parthenon,  I  could  have  understood 
the  force  of  his  remarks  ;  for  any  painter 
who  loved  this  line  of  subject,  and  who 
could  stand  before  this  marvelous  exam- 
ple, trap  in  hand,  without  recording  some 
portion  of  its  beauties,  did  not  deserve 
the  name.  Then  the  absurdity  of  the  in- 
quiry broke  over  me.  .  .  .  Millions  of 
money  spent  to  develop  art  in  America. 


A  city  built,  as  it  were,  in  a  day,  the  story 
of  whose  grandeur  and  beauty  it  would 
take  a  century  to  forget.  The  most  ex- 
quisite art  building  of  modern,  and  per- 
haps of  any  time,  casting  its  shadow  at 
that  very  moment  over  my  easel,  shelter- 
ing and  enshrining  the  marbles  and  can- 
vases of  the  greatest  masters  of  modern 
art ;  the  whole  world  bidden  to  come  and 
feast  its  eyes,  and  then  one  of  its  guests 
and  devotees  debarred  from  paying  his 
tribute  on  a  bit  of  paper  ten  inches  square. 

"Do  you  really  mean,  guard,  that  I 
cannot  paint  here  without  somebody's 
permission  ? ' ' 

The  guard  said,  "Yes,"  with  an  ex- 
pression on  his  face  indicative  of  a  kind 
of  pity  for  a  man  who  did  not  realize  at 
once  the  absurdity  of  anyone's  being  al- 
lowed free  use  of  the  grounds,  armed  with 
so  dangerous  a  thing  as  a  white  umbrella. 
You  might  as  well  have  asked  him 
whether  you  might  break  the  tail  of  the 
lion  and  carry  it  away  as  a  souvenir,  or 
add  a  figure  to  a  French  masterpiece. 

"  Then  present  my  compliments  to  the 
captain  of  the  guard  and  tell  him  my  or- 
ders come  direct  from  the  genius  of 
Charles  B.  Atwood,  the  architect  who  de- 
signed this  building. ' ' 

The  guard  loosened  carefully  one  button 
of  his  coat,  thrust  two  cotton-gloved  fin- 
gers into  the  break  of  his  faultless  cloth 
outline,  extracted,  as  with  a  pair  of  pin- 
cers, a  small,  narrow  book,  and  with  the 


IX    THE   TURKISH    VILLAGE. 


154 


A    WHITE   UMBRELLA   AT  THE  FAIR. 


stub  of  a  pencil  wrote  slowly,  "  Permit 
of  Mr.  Atwood,"  and  disappeared. 

"  Well,  it  can't  hurt  none,"  remarked 
a  man,  looking  over  my  shoulder.  He 
looked  like  a  farmer. 

"  Guess  they  don't  want  no  pictures 
took,  they  got  so  many  photographs  to 
sell,"  said  his  wife. 

"  You  can't  take  any  photographs  at 
all,  without  they  give  you  leave,"  added 
a  young  girl  in  a  blue  suit,  who  looked 
like  a  country  school-teacher,  "  for  they 
took  my  camera  away  at  the  gate,  unless 
I  paid,  and  I  couldn't  afford  that." 

I  had  no  theory,  and  ventured  no  reply. 
I  only  wanted  to  be  let  alone  long  enough 
to  catch  the  splash  of  that  noble  shadow 
before  the  hot  sun  creeping  around  that 
superb  column  dried  it  up. 

If  any  such  rule  as  to  painters  exists, 
it  should  be  abolished  at  once.  Within 
the  limits  of  the  Fair  there  is  material  for 
all  the  painters  of  the  earth,  and  with  al- 
most every  variety  of  subject.  Fromen- 
tin,  Schreyer  and  Pasini  could  have  stud- 
ied the  movements  of  a  group  of  Arab 
horsemen,  mounted  on  pure-blooded  Arab 
steeds,  sweeping  over  the  plain.  Constant 
and  Bridgeman  could  find  here  today 
Oriental  interiors,  peopled  with  scores  of 
Turkish,  Armenian  and  S3rrian  women, 
smoking  narghiles,  and  playing  upon 
curious  barbaric  instruments.  Geronie 
could  transfer  to  his  canvas  groups  of 
Bedouins  in  full  costumes,  among  them 
one  beautiful,  dark-skinned  woman  with 
liquid,  melting  eyes  and  low  forehead 
bound  with  a  black  silk  scarf  and  fastened 
at  each  temple  with  gold  ornaments  ;  or 
he  could  catch,  if  he  chose,  the  dignified, 
almost  majestic  movements  of  this  superb 
Oriental,  when  with  graceful  poise  she 
trips  down  the  Midway  in  the  twilight, 
her  half-nude  baby  perched  on  her  shoul- 
der, balanced  like  a  water-jar. 

Zeim  and  Rico  and  Whistler  could  float 
in  Venetian  gondolas  along  the  edges  of 
white  palaces  that  are  as  real  in  color, 
form  and  water  reflections,  as  their  be- 
loved Bride  of  the  Adriatic.  Tadema 
could  find  porticos,  loggias  and  courts — 
backgrounds  for  his  figures — infinitely 
more  perfect  and  useful  in  his  studio  than 
could  be  discovered  in  a  year's  travel 
along  the  Mediterranean.  Remington  and 
Woodville  could  fill  their  sketch-books 
with  Indian  ponies,  cowboys,  and  a  full 


company  of  English  cavalry,  perfect!}-  ap- 
pointed, down  to  their  very  spurs  ;  while 
a  whole  new  race  of  painters  with  untried 
subjects  could  find  inspiration  in  South 
Sea  Island  and  Dahomey  war -dances, 
with  brandished  clubs  and  flaring  torches. 

The  crowds,  too,  that  would  look  over 
the  shoulders  of  all  these  painters  would 
be  almost  as  interesting  and  various  as 
the  subjects  themselves.  For  myself,  I 
have  painted  in  almost  all  paintable  lands, 
and  have  had  the  experiences  generally 
incident  thereto ;  but  never  with  such 
variety  as  here.  In  Venice,  where  today 
white  umbrellas  are  almost  as  thick  as- 
field-daisies,  you  rarely  attract  the  idlest 
of  the  idle.  They  all  know  what  you  are 
doing,  as  they  have  all  known  what  their 
own  painters  have  done,  from  the  great 
Bellini  down.  In  Mexico  and  Constan- 
tinople, the  natives  swarm  like  flies  about 
you,  so  seldom  is  a  painter  seen  ;  while 
in  Havana  they  block  up  the  narrow  thor- 
oughfare and  every  overhanging  balcony  is 
filled,  so  eager  is  the  populace  to  see  a  man 
seated  quietly  in  an  open  fiacre,  sketch- 
ing a  Cuban  street.  Yet  what  patience, 
and  what  courtesy,  too,  these  people  have 
shown  !  While  in  Mexico,  the  eye  of  ev- 
ery bystander  was  riveted  on  my  brush, 
ever}'  tongue  was  silent.  If  any  onlooker 
had  any  positive  opinion  on  outdoor  work 
in  general,  and  landscape  work  in  partic- 
ular, or  any  criticisms  to  make,  he  kept 
them  to  himself. 

This  crowd  here,  however,  is  peculiar 
and  individual,  and  unlike  any  other 
within  my  experience.  I  regret,  too,  to 
be  obliged  to  state  that  the  ratio  of  its- 
courtesy  is  in  exact  proportion  to  the 
number  of  half-civilized  lookers-on  scat- 
tered through  its  whole  mass.  In  the 
Cairo  street,  for  instance,  where  by  far 
the  largest  number  consists  of  donkey 
boys,  canal  drivers,  and  other  Arabs  and 
Soudanese,  one  little  savage,  without 
word  from  anyone,  ran  to  her  bungalow 
and  brought  a  curious  fan,  gently  waving 
it  over  my  head  while  I  worked.  Up  the 
Midway,  on  the  contrary,  near  the  great 
wheel,  where  the  crowd  of  bystanders 
was  thickly  impregnated  with  types  of 
our  American  life  and  the  culture  of 
our  time,  the  remarks  of  those  about 
me,  if  I  correctly  translated  the  several 
dialects,  were  strongly  indicative  of  the 
intention  on  the  part  of  one  at  least 


A    WHITE   UMBRELLA   A  T  THE  FAIR. 


155 


SKETCHKD    AT   THE   CORNER    OF    THE    ART   GALLERY    LOOKING    ACROSS   THE    NORTH    POND. 


156 


A    WHITE   UMBRELLA   AT  THE  FAIR. 


of  the  cultured,  to  produce  certain  in- 
dentations in  my  head,  for  getting  in 
his  way  and  obstructing  his  view.  An- 
other expressed  an  especial  desire  to 
dry  up  certain  portions  of  the  road 
with  my  person ;  while  a  third,  after 
the  excitement  had  been  subdued— this 
time  a  flat,  angular  female  in  black  bom- 
bazine, lace  collar  and  a  daguerrotype 
pin,  gave  vent  to  the  criticism  that  "  it 
warn't  no  more  like  it  than  nothin'  " — an 
opinion,  I  regret  to  say,  which  was  con- 
curred in  b3'  a  considerable  majority  of 
those  present. 

Then,  perhaps,  later  on,  over  by  the 
Lagoon,  there  would  come  a  couple  of 
eager-eyed,  slender  young  girls,  sketch- 
book in  hand,  who  talked  to  each  other 
in  undertones,  with  long  silences  of 
watching  between,  and  who,  after  wasting 
an  hour  of  their  own  precious  sight-seeing 


time,  would  thank  me  so  sweetly  for  al- 
lowing them  to  see  the  sketch,  that  all 
the  rough  edges  of  the  morning  were  for- 
gotten. 

But,  seriously,  our  people  are  not  to  be 
blamed  too  severely  for  failing  to  appreci- 
ate an  open  easel.  Our  art,  after  all,  is 
but  a  quarter  of  a  century  old,  and,  active 
as  are  our  color  and  t}-pe  presses,  with 
their  millions  of  imprints  sown  broadcast 
over  the  land,  and  earnest  and  productive 
as  are  our  collectors  and  painters,  the 
country  grows  faster  than  these  civilizing 
influences.  It  can  be  confidentlj'  said 
that  it  will  be  very  many  3rears  before  the 
quiet  acceptation  of  a  Venetian  audience 
overtakes  our  people  everywhere  up  and 
down  our  land,  and  if  this  much-to-be- 
desired  day  is  at  all  hastened,  it  will  be 
solely  because  of  the  marvelous  results 
of  this  most  marvelous  Exposition. 


MAIN  ENTRANCE  TO  THE  ART  GALLERY. 


COAST  GUN   L  33. 
KRUPP  PAVILION,   WORLD'S   PAIR. 

BY  MARTHA  FOOTE  CROW. 

THY  lips'   stern   argument   is   more   for  peace 

Than   war,    O  cannon-king  !     When  thou   dost  bend 

Thy  seaward  gaze,    thou   seemst  upon   the  end 

Of  life  to   brood,    man's   futile   wraths   increase, 

And  the  inanity  of  battles'    lease. 

Hadst  thou   to  hate  of  men   been   made  to  lend 

Thy    fateful   breath,  in   battle's   din   to  blend 

Thy   voice,    thou   hadst   long  since   made  war  to  cease. 


Then    stand,    mute   prophet,    at   the   portal   where 
A   child's   soft  touch   can   thousands   keep   at  bay; 
Guard  thou   the   future's   gateway  while  the   mirth 
Of  gods  shall  shake  man's   quarrel   into  air; 
Balk  thou  world's   armies   in  their  vain   array; 
So  shalt  thou   bring  the  longed-for  peace  on   earth ! 


A  SWIMMING    MATCH. 


PEOPLE   WHO    DID   NOT   GO   TO   THE   FAIR. 


BY  ROBERT  GRANT. 


IT  is  all  over,  and  we,  the  jubilant,  who 
have  neither  been  held  up  nor  tele- 
scoped, have  returned  to  our  firesides  to 
mull  over  the  majesty  of  the  Court  of 
Honor,  to  persuade  ourselves  that  we  en- 
joyed the  paroxysms  of  the  Ferris  wheel, 
and  to  conjure  up  the  manifold  mysteries 
of  the  Midway  Plaisance.  We  have  been 
and  returned,  and  conscience  is  satisfied. 
We  have  nothing  to  reproach  ourselves 
with,  and  we  are  ecstatic  into  the  bargain. 
The  envious  eastern  press  would  have  had 
us  believe  before  we  started  that  the  Fair 
was  a  failure,  and  we  went,  tamely,  from 
a  stern  sense  of  duty,  merely  to  make  sure 
that,  if  it  were  a  success,  we  had  not 
missed  it. 

We  have  returned  dazzled,  electrified, 
and  almost  hysterical.  The  magnificent 
proportions  of  the  Liberal  Arts  building, 
the  architectural  grace  and  symmetry  of 
the  Agricultural  building,  the  inspiring 
effect  of  the  Administration  dome,  come 


back  to  us  in  the  watches  of  the  night. 
Our  retinas  retain  the  impression  of  the 
superb  staff  beasts  on  the  embankments  ; 
of  swiftly  gliding  gondolas,  manned  bv 
quaint,  fee-seeking  foreigners  ;  of  foun- 
tains scintillant  with  electricity,  and  of 
fireworks  —  what  fireworks  !  We  have 
talked  with  human  beings  who  in  their 
native  wilds  wear  no  clothing,  and  with 
human  beings  who  feed  upon  blubber  and 
sleep  in  bags  to  protect  themselves  from 
the  rigors  of  a  climate  where  conventional 
thermometers  burst  ;  and  we  have  de- 
manded, from  all,  postage  stamps  for  our 
son  and  heir,  who  is  collecting,  and  paid 
more  for  them  than  any  dealer  would  have 
charged.  We  have  soared  on  the  pinions 
of  a  fascinated  imagination,  and  now  we 
are  poised  on  the  wings  of  exalted  retro- 
spect. Our  tongues  wag  gloriously. 

We  look  for  Hopkins — poor  Hopkins — 
in  the  smoking-car,  the  first  thing  in  the 
morning,  to  tell  him  all  about  it,  and 


PEOPLE    WHO  DID  NOT  GO    TO    THE  FAIR. 


159 


Avhen,  on  the  third  evening,  he  fails  to 
•drop  in  as  usual,  we  drop  in  on  him  so 
that  he  may  hear  everything  while  it  is 
fresh  in  our  memories. 

That  is  the  way  I  looked  at  it  yester- 
day ;  but  today  I  feel  a  little  sober.  Hop- 
kins has  shown  temper.  I  was  going  to 
say  he  has  proved  ungrateful  ;  but  his 
words  are  ringing  in  my  ears,  and  I  am 
not  sure  that  I  should  be  justified  in  go- 
ing to  that  length.  But  was  it  not  queer 
of  Hopkins  to  turn  round,  in  the  smoking- 
car,  this  morning,  and  remark,  with  cold 
asperity  : 

"  I  say,  old  man,  give  us  a  rest — 
won't  you  ?  I  didn't  go  to  the  Fair, 
"but  I  was  beginning  to  be  sorry 
and  wish  I  had,  until  you  returned, 
•with  your  infernal  ecstasies  and 
long-winded  descriptions,  and  ever- 
lasting prattle  about  gondolas,  and  / 
Plaisances,  and  electrical  fountains, 
and  general  stuff;  and  now  I  am 
thanking  heaven  that  I  remained  at 
home.  If  you  wish  me  to  stay  away 
from  the  Paris  exhibition  in  1900, 
keep  on  as  you  have  during  the 
past  week." 

I  was  a  little 
taken  aback.  I 
had  noticed  that 
Hopkins  had 
looked  glum  the 
last  few  times  we 
had  met,  and  that 
he  seemed  loth  to 
put  down  his 
newspaper  when 
I  began  to  talk. 
On  the  previous 


I  had  taken 
it  for  grant- 
ed, in  the 
first  i  n- 
stance,  that 
he  wasread- 
i  ng  about 
the  Valky- 
rie, and,  in 
the  second, 
that  he  had 
in  mind  the 
sneak- thief 
burglaries 


EARTH  CONTROLLED. 


EARTH  UNCONTROLLED. 


AIR  UNCONTROLLED. 

CROUPS  FROM  ADMINISTRATION 

BUILDING. 


AIK   CONTROLLED. 

evening  he 
had  even 
seemed  to 
peer  at  me 
through 
the  crack 
of  the  door 
and  hesi- 
tate as  if 
I  were  a 
tramp  be- 
fore he  let 
me  in.  But 


that  have  recent- 
ly taken  place  in 
our  neighbor- 
hood.  Now  it 
seems  that  I  have 
been  dogging 
him,  and  that 
those  were  gentle 
hints. 

My  first  im- 
pulse was  to  be 
angry  and  to  re- 
proach Hopkins 
with  ingratitude 
by  remarking 

that  if  he  chose  to  remain  in  a  con- 
dition of  crass  ignorance  regarding 
the  great  exhibition,  I  should  no 
longer  trouble  myself  to  enlighten 
him.  Had  I  not  lent  him,  for  the 
benefit  of  himself  and  the  little 
Hopkinses,  all  my  maps,  photo- 
graphs and  other  guides  to  knowl- 
edge ?  But  having  counted  ten  be- 
fore speaking,  as  I  try  to  do  when 
heated,  I  simply  said  : 

"Why  was  it  you  didn't  go  to 
the  Fair,  Hopkins?   I  forget." 

Hopkins  looked  nettled  again — this  time 
with  himself — and   a   faint  blush  over- 
spread his  bronzed  countenance. 
"  Couldn't  get  away,"  he  retorted. 
"Oh,    yes.     But   you   got  away  on   a 
yacht  cruise  for  ten   days.      You   could 
have  seen  the  Fair  in  that  time,  and  taken 
Mrs.  H.  and  your  eldest  boy." 

What  a  difference  it  makes  whether  or 
not  a  man  has  the  consciousness  of  recti- 
tude on  his  side  !  A  few  minutes  before, 
when  the  charge  of  making  myself  a  bore 


i6o 


PEOPLE    WHO  DID  NOT  GO    TO    THE  FAIR. 


THE   CARAVELS    IN    THE   SOUTH    INLET. 


had  been  cast  in  my  teeth,  I  had  become 
tongue-tied  so  to  speak,  and  been  driven 
to  counting  ten  in  order  to  avoid  the  risk 
of  making  a  bad  matter  worse.  But  now 
I  had  the  hardihood  of  a  recording  angel. 
I  would  make  Hopkins  smart  for  his  in- 
gratitude to  me. 

' '  A  man  must  get  some  fresh  air  in  the 
course  of  the  twelve  months." 

"Didn't  you  go  to  Florida  to  fish  in 
the  spring  ?  " 

"  Yes,  and  spent  all  the  money  I  could 
afford  to  spend  this  year." 

' '  But  you  bought  a  new  phaeton  in  June 
and  had  your  house  painted." 

' '  Because  the  old  phaeton  was  worn  out, 
and  the  house  looked  like  the  d —  ' ' 

"  I'll  wager,  Hopkins,  your  wife  would 
have  gladly  made  the  old  phaeton  do 
another  season  and  have  endured  with 
equanimity  the  likeness  between  the  out- 
side of  the  house  and  his  Satanic  majesty, 
if  she  could  have  gone  to  the  Fair." 

"I  tell  you  I  hate  shows,"  said  Hop- 
kins malignantly,  and  he  buried  his 
features  in  the  Times  in  order  to  discoun- 
tenance an}'  further  remarks  of  mine. 

He  had  not  told  me,  but  there  was  the 
reason  in  a  nut-shell.  Hopkins  hated 
shows,  and  he  had  prided  himself  on  his 
consistency  in  hating  this  show,  and  now 
he  was  miserable  as  a  consequence. 


How  man}-  poor  idiots  there  are  over 
the  country  today  who  are,  colloquially 
speaking,  kicking  themselves  on  account 
of  their  boast  that  they  were  not  going  to 
the  World's  Fair  because  of  their  hatred 
for  shows.  In  May  they  said  so  with  an 
air  as  though  any  one  who  enjoyed  a 
show  was  a  garden  ass.  In  June  they 
sneered  as  they  said  it,  and  instanced  the 
discouraging  gate  receipts  as  proof  of 
their  superior  wisdom.  In  July  they 
sniffed  as  they  said  it,  and  referred  to 
the  fact  that  only  Americans  were  going. 
In  August  they  said  it  still,  and  argued 
that  cholera  might  break  out  any  day  and 
that  the  times  were  hard.  In  September 
they  coxighed  meditatively  as  they  said  it, 
and  spoke  of  the  crowds,  yet  admitted 
that  if  they  had  only  known  in  time  that 
this  particular  show  was  worth  seeing 
they  might  have  made  arrangements  ac- 
cordingly. In  October  they  swore  irrit- 
ably as  they  said  it,  conscious  that  they 
had  made  fools  of  themselves  and  yet 
determined  to  stick  out  to  the  bitter  end, 
until,  perhaps,  just  at  the  last  minute 
when  they  made  up  their  minds  that 
they  would  go  and  fovind  every  section  in 
the  sleeping-cars  taken  and  all  the  hotel 
accommodations  gone  ;  whereupon  they 
swore  still  more  irritably,  and  abused  the 
country  and  our  institutions  and  railway 


PEOPLE    WHO  DID  NOT  GO    TO    THE   FAIR, 


161 


systems  in  general,  and  the  management 
of  the  World's  Fair  in  particular.  In 
November  they  say  it  no  longer,  but  say 
that  they  are  going  every  man  and  woman 
of  them  to  Paris  in  1900. 

Yes.  the  people  who  did  not- go  to  the 
Fair  are  sadder  even  than  the  autumn 
leaves  ;  and  I  was  going  to  say  without 
their  redeeming  attraction,  until  I  stopped 
to  count  ten  again.  I  could  say  it  with 
all  my  heart  of  Hopkins  and  the  other 


would  it  not  be  that  we  might  conduct 
thither  the  hundreds  and  thousands  who 
did  not  see  it  so  that  some  one  else  might  ? 
And  since  it  is  so  simple  to  declare  what 
one  would  do  if  possessed  of  a  magician's 
wand,  let  us  go  a  little  farther  and  im- 
agine ourselves  into  the  bargain  million- 
aires making  a  first  use  of  our  prosperity 
to  convey  to  Chicago  a  la  Raymond  all  the 
people  who  were  really  so  poor  that  they 
could  not  scrape  together  or  borrow  the 
means  to  have  a  peep 
at  the  Congress  of 
Nations  and  a  ride  in 
a  gondola  from  the 
Court  of  Honor  to 
the  Art  Palace. 

Regardi  n  g  the 
matter  of  affording 
to  go,  I  am  sure  there 
is  a  very  considerable 
number  of  mourners 


garden  asses  (to  return  the 
compliment)  who  sneered  at 
shows  and  neglected  to  see 
the  grandest  exhibition  of 
modern    times     from    pure 
vanity,  laziness,  or  lack  of 
patriotism.      But  these   are 
not   all.      Too    many  are 
there  who  really  could  not 
get  away,  who  really  could 
not  afford  to  go,   and   who 
bravely  stayed  at  home  and 
made  the  best  of  the  picture 
papers  and  the  garrulity  of 
individuals  like  myself  who 
had  been  to  Chicago.    Shall 
we  grieve  for  those  who   did  not  go  in 
order  that  the  tired  sister,  a  public  school- 
mistress at  a  pitiful  salary  (What  abom- 
inable salaries   we  pay   them  !  ),   or  the 
younger  brother  on  the  threshold  of  life 
with  a  talent  for  art  or  mechanics  might 
go  instead  ?    These  do  not  need  our  sym- 
pathy, but  they  have  it.     If  by  the  stroke 
of  a  magician's  wand  we  could  revive  and 
repeople  the  Fair  for  another  thirty  days, 


VIEWS    FROM   THE   ENTRANCE   TO   THE   HORTICULTURAL    BUILDING. 

today  all  over  the  country  who  have  awak- 
ened to  the  consciousness,  now  that  it  is 
too  late,  that  they  could  have  afforded  the 
expense  after  all.  They  are  sad,  but  do 
they  deserve  sympathy  ?  More,  surely, 
than  Hopkins  and  his  tribe,  but  not  very 
much,  it  seems  to  me,  when  we  consider 
the  host  of  those  who  were  wise  enough 
to  thrust  their  fingers  clean  down  to  the 
bottom  of  the  family  stocking  rather 


102 


PEOPLE    WHO  DID  NOT  GO    TO    THE  FAIR. 


\ 


OUTSIDE  OF  THE   GROUNDS. 


than  stay  at  home.  There  is  such  a 
thing  in  this  world  as  being  too  econom- 
ical, and  the  number  of  empt3'  stockings 
and  drawn  down  savings  bank-books  in 
every  city  and  town  of  the  republic  are 
splendid  evidences  this  autumn  of  the 
national  stock  of  common  sense  and  free- 
dom from  niggardliness.  To  tell  the 
truth,  I  have  decidedl}7  more  sympathy 
for  those  who  borrowed  a 
hundred  dollars  in  order 
to  go,  and  who  are  now 
putting  off  the  purchase 
of  a  winter  suit  or  sack 
from  the  conscientious 
desire  to  blot  out  their 
indebtedness,  than  I  have 
for  the  conservative  folk 
who  stayed  at  home  and 
are  a  hundred  dollars 
richer.  The  man  or  wom- 
an broad-minded  enough 
to  borrow  once  or  twice 
in  the  course  of  a  life- 
time, is  to  my  mind  a 
truer  patriot  than  the 
hard-fisted  soul  who 
makes  no  distinction  be- 
tween the  desire  of  his 
daughter  to  visit  the 


World's   Fair  and  her  desire  to  possess  a 
bow-wow.     Nor  is  the   daughter,   or  the 
son,   for  the  matter  of  that,    alwaj'S   the 
\visest  judge  of  what  is  best  for  her.    She 
may  have  been   far  more  clamorous  for 
her  father  to  present  her  with  the  bow- 
wow than  to  send   her  to    Chicago,  and 
it  is  the  cautious,  penny-saving    fathers 
who  chose  the  bow-wow  as  the  cheapest 
form  of  extravagance    who    are     feeling 
cheapest  today.      I  met,  a  month  ago, 
a  husband  and  wife  who  had  decided 
to  go  to  the  Fair  after  all,   and  who 
seemed  in  rather  high  spirits  as  a  con- 
sequence.    "Andtheboy?"  I  inquired, 
having  in  mind  their  son  and  heir,  an 
intelligent,  wide-awake  lad  of  fifteen. 
You  should  have  seen  their  coun- 
tenances fall.    They  looked  posi- 
tively grave,  and  paterfamilias, 
shaking  his  head,    decidedly 
said:  "Oh,  no,  it  wouldn't  be  at 
all  worth  while." 

One  effect  of  the  Fair  at  Chi- 
cago has  been  to  confound  and 
refute  forever  that  too  large  body 
of  otherwise  intelligent  men  and 
women  who  felt  sure  that  the  exhibition 
could  not  be  a  success  because  it  was 
American  and  not  French  or  English  or 
German.  They  would  have  fought  like 
the  beasts  at  Ephesus  to  obtain  ocean 
passages  to  visit  Paris,  London  or  Ber- 
lin, had  it  been  at  either  of  those  cap- 
itals; but  a  World's  Fair  in  the  United 
States,  and  above  all  things  at  Chicago, 


A    LANDING    ON    THK    WOOPF.D    ISLE. 


PEOPLE    WHO  DID  NOT  GO    TO    THE  FAIR. 


163 


MAIN    ENTRANCE   TO   THE   HORTICULTURAL   EXHIBIT. 


must  necessarily  be  an  absurdity.  It 
might  serve  to  display  somewhat  pic- 
turesquely our  agricultural  products  and 
thereby  titillate  granger  vanity;  but  what 
cultivated  individual  would  care  to  travel 
hundreds  of  miles  in  a  dusty  sleeping-car 
in  order  to  see  bales  of  cotton  and  sheaves 
of  corn  ranged  side  b\r  side  with  spread- 
eagle  monotony  ?  We  shall  never  hear 
such  talk  again  on  our  eastern  sea-board. 
If  the  Fair  has  accomplished  no  other 
thing  it  has  silenced  for  all  time  the 
arguments  of  those  who  maintained  that 
it  was  necessary  to  go  abroad  in  order  to 
see  anything  really  artistic  or  inspiring, 
and  that  as  a  people  we  lack  imagination. 
How  those  pessimists  who  went  at  last 
must  have  opened  their  eyes  at  the  sight 
of  the  peristyle  and  the  splendid  groups 
on  the  Agricultural  building,  and  the  Mac- 
monnies  fountain,  and  the  free,  daring 
figures  on  the  outside  of  the  Administra- 
tion dome  !  Plow  little  do  the  pessimists, 
who  stayed  at  home  until  the  end  and  did 
not  see  the  grace  of  the  landscape  garden- 
ing, the  tasteful  blending  of  land  and 


waterways,  the  poetic  beauty  of  the  whole 
magical  White  City,  know  of  the  genius, 
the  artistic  sensibilities,  the  aspirations 
and  the  strength  of  their  countrymen  and 
countrywomen  ! 

It  would  be  an  interesting  statistic  to 
know  accurately  who  were  the  patrons 
of  the  Fair,  or,  in  other  words,  how  the 
millions  who  visited  it  were  apportioned 
among  the  different  classes  of  the  com- 
munity and  sections  of  the  country.  It 
was  visited,  of  course,  abundantly  by  all 
classes,  rich  and  poor,  well-to-do  and 
struggling,  cultivated  and  ignorant ;  but 
it  seems  probable  that  the  class  most 
largely  represented  in  proportion  to  its 
numbers  was  the  rank  and  file  of  the 
American  people,  meaning  thereby  the 
families  to  whom  the  expense  was  a  mat- 
ter of  serious  consideration,  and  the  event 
one  of  extraordinary  and  exceptional  im- 
portance. These  went  as  a  matter  of 
course,  beset  by  no  shame-faced  doubts  as 
to  the  national  ability,  and  feeling  that  it 
was  their  duty  to  go,  on  the  groxind  both 
of  patriotism  and  of  education.  Their 


i64 


PEOPLE    WHO  DID  NOT  GO    TO    THE   FAIR. 


empty  pocketbooks  and  stockings  lie 
scattered  along  the  Midway  Plaisance, 
and  at  the  bottom  of  the  waterways,  and 
they  have  resumed  the  routine  of  their 
uneventful  daily  lives,  knowing  that  they 
must  labor  closely  for  some  time  to  come 
to  atone  for  their  glorious  extravagance. 
But  who  would  venture  to  forecast  the 
fruits  of  their  journeying  to  Chicago,  and 
predict  the  consequences  to  follow  from 
the  impress  on  the  national  intelligence 
of  what  they  saw  there?  The  grandest 
effect  after  all,  will  be  the  impetus  of 
fresh  ideas  and  of  inspiration  given  to 
wistful  minds  throughout  the  country. 
Under  the  influence  of  this  reflection 
our  sentiment  even  toward  Hopkins,  and 
much  more  toward  those  who  sta}-ed  at 
home  from  less  indefensible  or  from  jus- 
tifiable considerations,  is  turned  to  pro- 
foundest  pity.  We  must  remember  that 
they  are  men  and  brothers,  and  that  most 
of  them  by  this  time  are  grieving  bitterly 
at  heart  that  they  let  slip  one  of  the 
grand  opportunities  of  life  to  learn  and  to 


enjoy.  Let  us  too  be  tactful  with  them  in 
their  somber  mood,  and  not  thrust  too 
much  upon  them  the  jubilation  which  we 
feel  because  we  have  been  wiser  or  more 
fortunate  than  the}'.  We  should  not  give 
even  to  the  least  deserving  of  them  the 
occasion  which  I  gave  to  Hopkins  to 
flinch  with  the  exquisite  torture  produced 
by  the  prattle  of  pride  and  self-congratu- 
lation. Within  bounds  the}-  will  be  glad 
to  look  at  our  photographs  and  relics,  and 
to  hear  our  adventures  and  even  our  de- 
scriptions, it  we  do  not  dog  their  footsteps 
or  invade  their  domestic  privacy.  But  let 
us  not  hope  to  be  able  to  set  the  Fair  be- 
fore their  eyes  by  our  individual  powers 
of  language  or  metaphor.  The  attempt 
to  do  so  is  akin  to  playing  a  jews-harp 
in  the  bed-chamber  of  a  sick  man  who 
does  not  care  for  music.  We  have  had 
our  happy  fortnight  and  the  joy  of  it  is 
still  fresh  with  us  ;  the  least  we  can  do  is 
to  respect  by  silence  the  feelings  of  those 
who  were  not  able  or  chose  not  to  go  to 
the  World's  Fair. 


AN    KXHJBIf    OF    WINDMILLS. 


AMATEUR    PHOTOGRAPHY 


PHOTOGRAPHY  in 

i  Fairyland  !  The 
most  fantastic  dream  of 
the  ardent  amateur  who 
has  longed  for  the  ideal 
and  unattainable,  could 
not  be  more  fascinating 
in  its  com  pi  exit}',  its 
variety  and  its  pictur- 
esqueness  than  the  reality.  It  may  be 
said  with  certainty  of  the  amateur  pho- 
tographer who  visited  the  World's  Fair, 
that  he  was  as  little  prepared  for  the 
surprise  that  was  in  store  for  him,  as  would 
have  been  au  individual  of  a  bygone  age 
suddenly  introduced  to  this  wonderful 
nineteenth  century.  He  had  read  and 
heard  by  word  of  mouth,  potent  descrip- 
tions of  the  marvelous  beauties  that 
would  greet  his  eye,  and  he  yearned  for 
the  time  when  it  would  be  possible  to 
stroll  about  in  this  land  of  enchantment 
and  picture  its  marvels  with  the  aid  of 
the  camera ;  but  when  he  came  to  look 
upon  it,  he  was  moved  and  affected,  and 
felt  that  descriptions  failed  because  the 
vision  was  one  that,  in  its  magnificence, 
was  beyond  the  scope  of  words,  and  pre- 
sented a  severe  task  for  him  to  record 
pictorially  with  anything  like  justice. 
Thus,  unfortunately  for  the  camerist.  fore- 
warning could  not  forearm  him,  and  the 
first  glimpse  of  this  modern  fain-land, 
though  an  elevating  and  inspiring  one, 


GROUPS  FROM  THE 
TRANSPORTATION    BUILDING. 


was  never- 
theless, a 
shock,  ajar 
to  his  artis- 
tic sensibil- 
ities. 

Within  the  compass  of  almost  two 
square  miles  there  was  spread  before  him 
with  imposing  grandeur  the  achievement 
of  the  master  minds  of  the  age,  glorifying 
man's  handiwork  and  attesting  his  prog- 
ress. Here  were  assembled  all  the  na- 
tions of  the  earth,  their  customs  and  their 
costumes.  The  resources  of  each  coun- 
try; its  trades,  arts  and  sciences;  the  ma- 
terial and  the  religious  character  of  the 
peoples ;  all  were  here  for  him  to  study — 
and  to  photograph.  Up  and  down  the 
broad  avenues,  and  in  and  out  of  the  mas- 
sive structures,  there  elbowed  and  surged 
day  by  day,  and  night  after  night  mid 
glitter  and  glare,  the  most  cosmopolitan 
throng  that  could  possibly  be  gathered 
anywhere;  the  high  and  the  low,  rich  and 
poor,  civilized  and  savage — all  the  coun- 


1 66 


AMATEUR  PHOTOGRAPHY  AT  THE   WORLD'S  FAIR. 


tries  of  the  earth  centralized 
here  and  their  peoples  ming- 
ling with  harmony  and 
accord !  Verily,  said  the 
camerist  to  himself,  this  is  a 
World's  Fair  !  But  what  can 
I  do?  What  shall  I  take? 
It  is  all  so  splendid,  impres- 
sive, huge,  overpowering ! 

When  the  first  dazzling  ef- 
fect was  over  the  camerist 
proceeded  to  use  his  camera, 
or  rather  tried  to,  for  none  ever  fully 
attained  a  realizing  sense  of  the  condi- 
tions that  surrounded  him.  Ask  whom 
you  may,  he  will  tell  you  candidly,  his 
photographic  work  was,  in  a  degree,  aim- 
less. The  scene  was  all  too  comprehen- 
sive for  him  to  grasp  it  in  its  entirety; 
there  was  no  beginning  or  ending  with 
anything  like  definition ;  he  was  perplexed 
and  lacked  clear,  guiding  thought  and 
method  in  his  pursuit.  Perhaps  he  had 
traveled  over  England  and  the  Continent, 
and  had  possibly  traversed  even  the  dan- 
gerous and  less  accessible  parts  of  the 
world,  without  feeling  a  tremor  of  fear 
as  to  his  ability  to  photograph  it  all  with 
ease,  and  well.  He  had  ascended  pre- 
cipitous mountains,  descended  the  crat- 
ers of  burning  volcanoes,  gone  into  the 
very  bowels  of  the  earth,  and  made  flash- 
light pictures,  without  ever  experienc- 
ing other  than  the  merely  technical  dif- 
ficulties. But  here  was  the  whole  world, 
within  a  few  hours  walking,  actual  and 
startling  in  its  myriad  realisms,  and  he 


CAMEL,    WITH    TRAPPINGS 


BRIDGE   OF    ARCH,    OF    PERISTYLE. 


went  about  much  as  does  a 
child  with  some  new  bauble, 
fond,  yet  fearful,  and  doubt- 
ing whether  it  is  really  his 
to  have  and  to  enjoy.  When 
he  returned  home  and  began 
development,  and  saw  the  re- 
sult of  his  work,  as  each  pic- 
ture called  to  mind  the  won- 
derland through  which  he 
had  passed,  then  and  not  till 
then,  did  he  appreciate  the 
misdirection  of  his  efforts.  To  such  as 
have  been  able  to  return  and  profit  by 
such  a  first  experience,  is  due  the  most 
creditable  work  that  has  been  done. 

Two  of  the  most  fortunate  amateurs  are 
Messrs.  T.  A.  and  C.  G.  Hine,  of  the 
Newark  Camera  Club.  Together  they 
have  made  several  hundred  negatives  and 
covered  the  field  from  first  to  last.  There 
are  but  few  better  known  than  these 
gentlemen,  and  their  reputation  extends 
wherever  a  photographic  lantern  slide  is 
sent ;  and  so  careful  are  the}'  in  their 
work  that  anything  exhibited  under  their 
joint  signature  always  receives  the  high- 
est praise,  and  often  prize,  if  any  is  to  be 
awarded.  The  peculiarity  and  character- 
istic quality  of  their  work  is  seen  in  the 
night  scenes  they  made  at  the  Fair.  One 
entitled  "  Administration  Building,  Illu- 
minated," and  another  "The  Basin,  Illu- 
minated," are  beyond  doubt  two  of  the 
most  wonderfully  clever  and  artistic  pic- 
tures of  all  the  millions  that  have  been 
made  there  during  the  season.  The 
Messrs.  Hine  are  not  the 
first  to  make  night  pic- 
tures, but  the}-  are  per- 
haps the  only  ones  to  ob- 
tain such  gems.  They 
vividly  recall  the  splen- 
dor and  brilliancy  of  the 
scene  to  any  one  who  has 
looked  upon  it,  and  to 
such  as  have  not,  they  at 
least  awaken  the  imagin- 
ation to  an  insight  of  the 
weird  and  dazzling  power 
of  the  night  illumination 
upon  the  grounds,  where 
every  building  was  out- 
lined with  light,  and  ev- 
ery dome,  and  arch,  and 
angle  had  its  contour 
drawn  in  bright  lines  of 


AMATEUR  PHOTOGRAPHY  AT  THE   WORLD'S  FAIR.  167 


TWILIGHT,    ACROSS    WOODED    ISLAND. 


living  flame.  The  extent  of  this  electric 
illumination  will  be  understood  when  it 
is  said  that  figures  grouped  about  the 
buildings  are  distinctly  seen  in  the  pho- 
tograph. These  pictures  were  both  made 
from  the  top  of  the  Manufactures  and 
Liberal  Arts  building.  Another  excel- 
lent picture,  novel  in  its  effect,  is  "Twi- 
light, across  Wooded  Island,"  lending  to 
the  subject  just  a  sufficiency  of  the  dark 
and  somber  shades  of  falling  night,  tinged 
\vith  the  high-lights  of  the  setting  sun. 
"  Looking  South  from  the  Horticultural 
Building,"  and  the  studies  of  statuary, 
particularly  the  eight  groups  representing 
the  elements — earth,  air,  fire  and  water — 
controlled  and  uncontrolled,  are  very  fine. 
"Electricity,"  "Aerial,"  "Steam,"  and 
"  Marine,"  groups  about  the  Transporta- 
tion building,  are  similar  symbolic  studies. 
This  is  all  admirable  work,  when  you 
recognize  that  it  was  done  with  a  hand 
camera  of  four  by  five  inches,  or  less,  in 
size.  There  are  two  principal  ways  of 
using  the  dry  plate.  One  is  the  instan- 
taneous or  "snap-shot,"  to  which  the 


amateur  was  restricted,  the  other  is  by 
means  of  camera  and  tripod,  giving  a 
longer,  or  what  is  called  "time  "  ex- 
posure. The  latter  is  the  only  way  to  get 
the  best  effects  of  light  and  shade,  and 
had  it  been  allowable  to  take  even  a  five 
by  eight  camera  and  tripod  into  the 
grounds  —  which  would  not  have  been 
unreasonable — much  more  perfect  work 
would  have  been  attained. 

Still,  notwithstanding  the  obstacles 
that  beset  him,  it  is  to  the  amateur  pho- 
tographer that  will  be  due  the  highest 
and  most  artistic  treatment  of  the  Fair. 
To  be  sure,  none  will  have  done  it  thor- 
oughly, but  each  will  possess  odd  gems 
of  undoubted  merit.  There  are  various 
very  good  reasons  for  this.  One  will  be 
found,  I  think,  in  the  fact  that  so  many 
amateurs  are  men  and  women  of  means 
and  leisure  ;  often  of  a  professional  and 
artistic  temperament,  possessing  keen 
judgment  in  matters  pertaining  to  art, 
who  follow  photography  with  the  same 
enthusiasm  and  earnestness  that  the  art- 
ist wields  his  brush  or  the  sculptor  his 


1 68 


AMATEUR  PHOTOGRAPHY  AT  THE    WORLD'S  FAIR. 


mallet  and  chisel.  Again,  it  may  well 
be  claimed  that  the  amateur  is  much 
more  familiar,  by  common  practice,  with 
the  use  of  the  hand  camera  than  is  the  so- 
called  professional.  I  shall  not  discuss 
the  unfortunate  regulations  that  hamp- 
ered the  amateur  in  his  attempt  to  photo- 
graph the  Fair,  but  it  may  not  be  amiss 
to  briefly  consider  what  specific  relation 
photography  had  to  the  exposition,  and 
what  benefits  were  likely  to  accrue  to  the 
art  from  the  opportunities  offered  for  its 
best  and  most  unrestricted  use. 

The  time  when  it  was  regarded  as  a 
mere  pastime  has  gone — never  to  return 
— and  it  is  now  conceded  to  rank  as  an 
art,  whose  pursuit 
is  elevating  and  re- 
fining. It  creates, 
develops  and  brings 
into  requisition  ev- 
ery  latent  instinct 
of  the  artistic  sense; 
starts  the  emotions, 
awakens  thought, 
quickens  percep- 
tion. There  could 
be  no  higher  educa- 
tion, surely,  in  the 
school  of  life  than 
that  which  fell  to  the 
boy  of  today,  when, 
with  camera  in 
hand,  he  visited  this 
wonderful  Fair,  to 
return  laden  with 
the  fruit  of  his  judg- 
ment in  the  selec- 
tion and  treatment 
of  the  most  marvel- 
ous combinations  of 
landscape  and  arch- 
itecture, and  the  most  unique  and  varied 
groupings  of  foreign  and  native  sight- 
seers that  were  ever  assembled  in  one 
place. 

It  is  almost  astounding  to  learn  that  two 
of  the  largest  photographic  firms  should 
establish  themselves  upon  the  grounds 
and  rent  cameras  at  a  given  price  per  day, 
to  gratify  the  desire  for  picture-making  ! 
Think  of  the  thousands  who  had,  perhaps, 
never  handled  a  camera  before;  but  here 
the}'  were  briefly  transplanted  to  wonder- 
land, and  thejr  availed  themselves  of 
the  opportunity  to  carry  away  a  few 
mementoes  The  dry  plate  and  the  sim- 


INTERIOR    OF    PERISTYLE. 


plification  of  the  process  made  this  pos- 
sible. The  extent  to  which  the  camera 
has  been  improved  in  the  last  few  years, 
renders  it  quite  feasible  for  a  person  of  in- 
experience to  take  one  in  his  hands,  ready 
loaded,  and,  with  slight  instructions,  to 
secure  a  fair  percentage  of  good  pictures. 
It  would  be  a  difficult  task  to  estimate  the 
number  of  new  workers  in  the  field  of 
amateur  photography  due  to  this  great 
Fair.  Of  those  who  thus  took  the  first 
steps  in  art  on  so  auspicious  an  occasion, 
is  it  not  more  than  probable  that  very 
man}-  will  persevere  ? 

The  love  of  pictures  is  civilizing.  From 
the  very  earliest  days  of  history  the  ad- 
vancement of  man 
is  marked  pictorial- 
ly  ;  from  the  rude 
drawings  of  the  sav- 
age and  the  barbar- 
ian, that  were  used 
to  record  thought 
and  events  long  be- 
fore the  alphabet 
was  known,  and  by 
the  degrees  of  per- 
fection attained  in 
thegraphicarts.one 
can  trace  the  prog- 
ress and  the  epochal 
culmination  of  the 
civilization  of  a  na- 
tion. There  is  an 
innate  desire  in  all 
people  to  possess 
pictures  or  to  make 
them,  or  both.  It 
would  be  hard  to 
say  why,  but  per- 
haps it  is  that  pic- 
tures bear  the  same 
relation  outwardly  to  our  natures'  that 
memory  does  to  our  inner  consciousness. 
After  all,  nature  has  made  the  most 
wonderful  provision  for  the  production 
of  picttires.  In  that  first  and  most  per- 
fect of  lenses,  the  eye,  and  that  subtle 
sensitive  medium,  the  brain,  which  not 
only  records  visible  objects,  but  sound 
and  even  thought  from  its  hidden  and 
mysterious  source,  do  we  not  find  that 
the  wisest  and  most  beneficent  gift  of 
that  one  Power,  that  is  life  diffused  in 
nature,  has  been  the  perfection  of  picture- 
recording  apparatus  ?  Conceding,  then, 
that  the  admiration  for  pictures  is  innate, 


AMATEUR  PHOTOGRAPHY  AT  THE  WORLD'S  FAIR. 


169 


170 


AMATEUR  PHOTOGRAPHY  AT  THE   WORLD'S  FAIR. 


we  must  also  acknowledge  that  the  more 
acute,  cultivated  and  truthful  the  action 
of  these  brain -photographs  become,  the 
nearer  will  the  mind  approach  the  ideal 
and  the  closer  this  approach,  the  clearer 
and  keener  will  become  the  perception, 
the  appreciation  and  the  judgment  of  the 
beautiful. 

Pictures  are  a  universal  language,  and 
appeal  to  all,  regardless  of  tongue.  The 
ideals  of  art  mav  differ  with  each  nation, 
yet  the  eye  and  brain  will  all  alike  re- 
ceive and  recognize  the  symmetry  of  form, 
the  harmony  of  arrangement,  and  the  ef- 
fect of  light  and  shade,  in  some  degree. 
Pictures  of  this  World's  Fair  will  be  as 
thoroughly  understood  in  Japan  or  India 
as  here  in  the  States.  An  illustration  of 


all  countries  who  will  not,  at  one  time  or 
another,  have  seen  it  photographically, 
not  alone  through  the  individual  display 
of  each  camerist,  but  through  the  lantern 
slide  interchange.  So  closely  are  the 
clubs  and  societies  in  communication 
throughout  the  world,  that  they  form  an 
entire  circuit,  and  thus  thousands  of  pic- 
tures are  constantly  in  circulation.  Many 
sets  of  pictures  of  the  White  City,  will 
journey  through  the  States,  the  British 
Isles,  across  the  Continent,  China,  India, 
Japan,  Australia  and  back  again  to  the 
States.  Such  an  all-pervading  influence 
must  work  incalculable  benefits. 

Verily,  it  was  the  camerist' s  paradise. 
Here  he  could  never  tire  of  wandering, 
daj-  after  day,  amid  a  maze  of  pictorial 


WATER    UNCONTROLLED   AND   CONTROLLED.       GROUPS   FROM   ADMINISTRATION    BUTI-DING. 


the  extensiveness  of  photography  and 
the  influence  it  will  exert  may  be  drawn 
from  the  statement  that  man}-  amateurs 
from  Australia,  China  and  other  distant 
countries  have  spent  days  at  the  Fair, 
making  pictures.  Further  take  into  ac- 
count that  the  number  made  by  each 
camerist  varied  from  one  to  three  hun- 
dred, and  one  may  realize  the  amount  of 
work  done  and  the  great  good  that  must 
result  from  so  general  a  practice  of  this 
art.  Millions  could  not  attend  the  Fair 
during  the  short  season  of  its  duration — 
yet  it  will  be  an  insignificant  minority  in 


effects.  Subjects  of  infinite  variety  pre- 
sented themselves  at  every  turn.  Vistas 
of  unequalled  charm  attracted  him — here 
the  Lagoon,  winding  along,  its  banks 
lined  with  great  stone  embankments, 
white  and  gleaming,  and  here  and  there 
the  arched  bridge,  and  high  above,  on 
either  hand,  massive  fa9ade  and  arch  and 
colonnade  mirrored  their  gay  decorations 
in  the  glassy  pools,  where  ever  and  anon 
the  ancient  gondola  and  the  modern  launch 
glided  to  and  fro.  Again,  thelong  avenues, 
whose  broad  walks  were  lined  with  flower- 
beds and  trees  from  all  parts  of  the  world, 


AM  A  TEUR  PHO  TOGRAPHY  A  T  THE   WORLD 'S  FAIR. 


171 


A   CORNER   OP   MACHINERY   HALL. 

were  thronged  with  moving  life,  while 
the  vast  buildings,  continued  far  as  the 
eye  could  see,  and  blend- 
ed in  the  distance  in  an 
indistinct,  uncertain  line 
with  the  clouds  upon 
the  horizon,  hung  like  a 
fringe  upon  the  design 
of  the  foreground. 

Not  only  the  unusual 
and  exquisite  effect  of 
these  perspectives  im- 
pressed him,  however,  but 
also  the  superb  architect- 
ural designs  of  the  build- 
ings, and  the  skilfully  ex- 
ecuted entrances,  about 
which  the  groupings  of 
statuary,  each  symbolic 
of  man's  advancement, 
were  elaborately  placed. 
To  obtain  good  pictures 
of  some  of  these  groups, 
was  most  difficult  and 
some  of  the  more  careful 
and  enthusiastic  ama- 
teurs actually  carried  a 
step-ladder  as  well  as  a 


camera  about  the  grounds,  and  when 
such  subjects  presented  themselves  as 
were  out  of  the  angle  of  their  lens  while 
walking,  they  climbed  their  ladders  in 
order  to  get  on  a  line  with  the  object  to 
be  depicted.  Truly,  ambitious  earnest- 
ness prompted  that. 

Mr.  Alfred  P.  Schoen  and  Mr.  Frank 
C.  Elgar,  of  the  Society  of  Amateur  Pho- 
tographers of  New  York,  made  some  ex- 
cellent work ,  the  former,  however,  carry- 
ing off  the  palm  for  World's  Fair  pic- 
tures. His  "State  Avenue"  is  a  won- 
derfully clear-cut  perspective ;  and  a 
mere  trifle,  "Interior  of  Peristyle,"  is 
still  a  very  clever  thing,  for  there  is  no 
other  subject,  I  think,  of  the  many  I 
have  seen,  that  shows  the  magnitude  of 
the  buildings  better  than  this  picture. 
"A  Swimming  Match,"  "Bridge  of 
Arch,"  and  many  similar  bits  of  the 
grounds  are  quite  thoughtfully  taken. 

Mr.  Paul  Sala  and  Mr.  D.  S.  Plumb,  of 
the  Newark  ( N.  J.)  Camera  Club,  have 
done  some  very  artistic  work.  The  ' l  Cen- 
ter of  Macmonnies  Fountain,"  by  the 
former,  is  a  beautiful  piece  of  work  for  a 
hand  camera.  Mr.  D.  Berger  Young,  of 
the  Society  of  Amateur  Photographers, 
has  a  large  number  of  very  fine  views. 
There  was  one  thing  in  favor  of  good  re- 


THK   GERMAN    BUILDING. 


172 


AMATEUR  PHOTOGRAPHY  AT  THE   WORLD'S  FAIR. 


suits,  and  that  is  there  was  plenty  of  light. 
Good  white  light  is  a  prime  requisite  in  ob- 
taining a  photograph,  and  most  amateurs 
did  not  avail  themselves  of  the  very  sunny 
days,  but  waited  until  an  overcast  and 
cloudy  day  appeared.  This  was  advan- 
tageous in  more  ways  than  one  ;  first,  it 
took  away  the  glare  and  lent  a  softer 
shading  to  the  picture,  giving  less  con- 
trast and  greater  beaut3r  of  detail,  for  the 
buildings  being  in  most  instances  so 
white  the  reflections  were  very  strong  ; 
further,  the  effect  of  clouds  in  the  sky 
added  much  to  the  artistic  value  of  either 
land  or  water  views. 

It  might  be  remarked  here  that  there  is 
one  phase  of  photograph}'  that  is  in  a 
sense  deplorable.  It  has  been  increasing 
to  an  unwarranted  extent  during  the  past 
two  years  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  for  its  own 
good  that  its  growth  will  not  continue. 
I  refer  to  the  lantern  slide  exchanges  and 
interchange.  This  idea  of  making  a 
lantern  slide  of  every  subject  that  is 
taken  has  beyond  doubt  militated  against 
the  more  careful  production  of  print  pho- 
tographs. Its  tendency  has  been  to  de- 


stroy that  study  of  composition  and  light 
and  shade  which  should  ever  be  a  niling 
one  with  the  amateur  who  would  make 
of  photography  an  art,  pure  and  simple. 
Many,  who  at  one  time  devoted  a  great 
deal  of  thought  and  time  to  the  pro- 
duction of  a  single  good  negative,  that  as 
a  print  should  yield  a  perfect  picture, 
have  fallen  into  the  careless  and  haphaz- 
ard way  of  taking  anything  and  every- 
thing that  presents  itself,  and  after  devel- 
opment, if  it  is  not  entirely  good,  content 
themselves  with  getting  a  good  lantern 
slide  out  of  some  portion  of  it,  either 
by  reducing  or  enlarging  a  fraction  of 
the  original.  This  is  to  be  deprecated. 
It  is  not  art  ;  it  is  not  photography.  The 
elements  of  a  good  picture  are  merely  ac- 
cidental. Had  it  not  been  for  this  pre- 
dominating thought  of  the  majority  of 
amateurs  who  visited  the  Fair,  even  bet- 
ter results  might  have  been  attained,  and 
the  regret  would  not  have  been  so  uni- 
versal that  never  again,  in  the  time  of 
any  living  today,  would  it  be  possible  to 
look  upon  so  grand  and  fertile  a  photo- 
graphic subject. 


THE    FISHERIES. 


A     NEW     WORLD     FABLE. 


BY  HJAI.MAR  HTORTH  BOYESKN. 


THE  flashing  into  vision  of  the  White 
City  by  the  Lake,  and  its  sudden 
extinction,  is  one  of  the  most  startling- 
incidents  which  the  American  continent 
has  witnessed.  It  furnishes  exquisite 
material  for  the  myth -making  fancy. 
What  a  noble  legend  the  Greeks  would 
have  made  of  it !  Men,  they  would  have 
said,  in  the  pride  of  achievement,  rebelled 


against  the  immortal  gods,  as  the  Titans 
did  of  old,  and  refused  to  worship  them. 
"Behold,"  they  cried,  "can  we  not,  of 
our  own  wit  and  strength,  rival  your 
works — nay,  surpass  them?"  So  they 
toiled  and  moiled,  by  day  and  by  night, 
intending  to  build  a  wondrous  city,  which 
was  to  make  Babylon,  Nineveh  and  Athens 
pale  into  insignificance.  Thither  all  the 


A   NEW    WORLD  FABLE. 


nations  of  the  earth  were  to  bring 
their  choicest  works  — the  highest 
evidences  of  their  deftness,  wit  and 
skill.  All  the  glorious  products  of 
loom  and  forge,  of  brain  and  brawn, 
of  might  and  cunning,  were  to  be 
heaped  up  in  the  White  City  by  the 
much -resounding  lake.  Inflated  in 


IN    THE   OSTRICH    FARM. 


THE    SHIP    OF   THE   DESERT. 


spirit  at  the  grandeur  of  this  thought, 
the  peoples  burst  into  a  psean  of  praise, 
saying  :  "  Behold,  we  are  even  as  gods  ; 
great  is  man,  wonderful  are  his  works  ! ' ' 
But  the  sounds  of  this  song  rose  to 
heaven  and  smote  the  ears  of  the  immor- 
tals, as  they  were  seated  in  council  on  the 
top  of  Olympus.  "What  is  this,"  they 
cried  in  wrath,  "  which  the  dwellers  upon 
earth  have  done  ?  Let  us  send  Eris,  the 
goddess  of  strife,  among  them,  to  disturb 
their  councils  and  bring  confusion  to 
their  deeds."  And  Eris,  borrowing  the 
swift- winged  sandals  of  Mercury,  descend- 
ed from  the  purple  skies,  and,  wrapped  in 
a  viewless  cloud,  stole  into  the  council- 
room  of  the  lily-armed  Board  of  Lady 
Managers.  Straightway  a  murmur  was 
heard,  which  gathered  volume  and  grew 
into  a  harsh  commingling  of  many  voices. 
All  the  lily-armed  ones  rose  and  talked 
aloud,  with  angr}r  gesturing.  Each  de- 
posed the  other  from  office  ;  some  hurled 
forth  accusations,  and  some  brandished 
their  silken-fringed  sun-shades  threaten- 
ingly in  their  neighbors'  faces.  Then 
Eris  laughed  aloud  with  joy,  and,  slipping 
out,  betook  herself  to  the  council-hall  of 


the  men.  No  sooner  had  she 
entered  and  hovered  unseen 
over  the  chieftains,  than  a  roar 
of  dissension  broke  forth  :  fists 
were  clenched,  wrathful  voices 
wrestled  in  fierce  concourse, 
and  confusion  reigned  galore. 
Then  Eris  clapped  her  hands 
with  delight,  and,  returning 
to  Olympus,  announced  that 
her  mission  had  been  accom- 
plished. 

But  as  the  moons  passed, 
the  men  forgot  their  wrath, 
and  masters  of  persuasive  speech,  whose 
words  dropped  from  their  lips  sweeter 
than  honey,  soothed  their  passions  and 
fired  their  hearts  anew  with  noble  en- 
deavor. And  they  toiled  again  right 
valiantly,  by  night  and  by  day  ;  and 
behold  !  the  city  of  wonders  arose  and 
hung  like  a  radiant  vision  upon  the  hori- 
zon over  the  much-resounding  lake.  Then, 
again,  the  high  chant  of  triumph  pierced 
the  brazen  skies  and  besieged  the  ears  of 
the  jealous  immortals.  "  Let  us  descend 
from  the  crags  of  Olympus,"  they  said, 
"and  behold  what  the  dwellers  by  the 
much-resounding  lake  have  fashionec  . 

And  cloud-compelling  Zeus,  with  all 
the  radiant  throng  of  gods  and  goddesses, 
descended,  wrapt  in  a  fragrant  gloom,  to 
the  White  City.  And  they  came  as 
cometh  the  night.  Sore  they  marveled 
at  that  which  they  beheld.  Hephaistos, 
wlien  he  saw  the  huge  revolving  wheel, 
struck  at  it,  hot  \vith  ire,  and  with  his 
mighty  sledge  strove  to  shatter  it.  But 
his  fury  was  spent  like  that  of  a  storm 
against  the  deeply-rooted  mountain. 
Ares,  mighty  of  limb,  when  he  stared  into 
the  yawning  throat  of  the  black-mouthed 


A  NEW   WORLD  FABLE. 


175 


cannon,  hurled  in  disgust  his  sword 
into  the  lake  ;  and  swift-sandaled  Her- 
mes, when  he  heard  the  roar  of  the 
snorting  locomotives  and  saw  the  starry 
light  flash,  with  bright-hued  rays, 
swifter  than  thought,  along  threads  of 
steel,  grasped  his  head  between  his  rosy 
palms  and  trembled  like  an  aspen  leaf. 
Phoebus  Apollo,  when  the  music  of  dire 
fully  commingled  strains  smote  his  ear 
from  the  Midway  Street  of  the  Nations, 
groaned  aloud  ;  and  when,  haply  to  es- 
cape from  the  excruciating  tumult,  he 
rushed  into  the  Hall  of  Beauty,  he 
groaned  still  louder  and  fled,  horror- 
stricken.  But  when  the  torch  of  day 
was  quenched,  the  gods  looked  in  vain 
for  the  soft  veil  of  darkness  to  descend. 
Myriad  stars  suddenly  flashed  into  view 
along  the  water's  edge  and  on  the  lofty 
temples,  glowing  strangely  with  a  pure 
white  light.  A  great  glare  arose,  pour- 
ing its  radiance  into  the  dark-blue  can- 
opy of  the  sky.  And  the  moon,  like  a 
pallid  ghost,  drifted  along  the  edge  of 
the  horizon,  and,  seeing  that  her  ser- 
vices were  no  longer  needed,  stole  out 
of  sight. 

Then   cloud  -  compelling  Zeus  shook 
his  ambrosian  locks,  and  terrible  was  he 
to  behold.     "  Ye  gods  and  goddesses,"  he 
cried,   "hear!     The  dwellers  upon  earth 
have  rebelled   against    us.      They    have 
blotted  out   the  soft   and   gentle   night ; 


TOWN   AND   COUNTRY. 


IN   THE   GOVERNMENT   BUILDING. — UNIFORMS    1813. 

they  have  enkindled  suns  and  moons  and 
stars  of  their  own  ;  they  have  erected 
temples  for  the  worship  of  strange  gods, 
and,  have  reversed  the  order  of  the 
world  which  we  had  de- 
creed. Therefore  will  I 
bring  confusion  upon 
them  and  destroy  the  cy- 
clopean  works  which  they 
have  builded." 

Then,  in  the  twinkling 
of  an  eye,  heaven  and 
earth  were  drenched  in 
,  darkness  ;  the  thunder- 
bolt flew  abroad  and, 
crashing,  smote  the  tow- 
ers and  domes  of  the 
White  City;  the  light- 
ning cut  deep  rifts  in  the 
roof  of  the  sky,  and  ^Go- 
,  lus  unloosed  the  storms 
'  which,  bellowing,  rode 
forth,  filling  the  world 
with  their  uproar.  But 
when  Aurora  rose  again 
from  the  saffron  couch  of 
the  famed  Tithonus,  the 


i76 


A   NEW    WORLD  FABLE. 


AT   THE  SIDB  OF  THE  GOLDEN   DOORWAY 

White  City  was  gone,  and  ruin  and  des- 
olation marked  the  spot  where  it  had 
been. 

Some  such  myth,  I  fancy,  we  should 
have  found  in  Homer,  Herodotus  or  Lu- 
cretius, if  a  work  even  remotely  compar- 
able with  the  World's  Fair  had  been 
achieved  and  again  destroyed,  while  man- 
kind was  young.  The  tremendous  prod- 
igality of  the  thing  is,  after  all  what  is  to 
the  imagination  most  imposing.  On? 
acquires,  inferentially,  a  conception  of  the 
resources  of  the  nation  and  thecit}'  which 
can  afford  to  squander  such  a  dizzy  array 
of  millions  on  a  mere  fleeting  show,  how- 
ever useful  and  instructive.  That  nation 
or  city  is  yet  in  its  reckless  age,  when  one 
likes  to  do  things  in  a  big  way,  and  with 
a  youthful  bravado  which  scorns  petty  cal- 
culation as  to  profit  and  loss.  There  is 
something  captivating  to  me  in  that  spirit 
of  vain-glorious  municipal  self-assertion 
which  one  finds  in  the  principal  local 
promoters  of  the  Fair  ;  and  I  am  quite 
ready  to  agree  with  them  that,  whatever 
credit  the  enterprise  has  reflected  upon 
us.  is  due,  not  to  the  nation,  btit  to  the 
city  of  Chicago.  It  was  Chicago's  Fair, 
first  and  last.  The  national  interference 
(especially  considering  the  meanness  of 
the  appropriation)  was  chiefly  discredit- 
able. If  responsibility  for  a  failure  were 
to  be  apportioned,  we  should  not  be  slow 


in  placing  it  solely  upon 
Chicago.  Let  us  be  equally 
generous  in  awarding  her 
the  praise  which  is  the 
meed  of  success.  For  she 
has  placed  the  whole  coun- 
try under  obligation  by  af- 
fording us,  practically  at  her 
own  expense,  a  great  and 
noble  spectacle  which  each 
one  of  us  is  the  richer  for 
having  seen. 

Such  a  wealth  of  achieve- 
ment —  artistic,  mechanical 
and  scientific — has  probably 
never  before  been  crowded 
together  in  such  a  circum- 
scribed space.  Of  the  build- 
ings so  much  has  been  writ- 
ten that  I  shrink  from  put- 
ting the  language  to  the 
strain  of  describing  them 
once  more.  But  the}'  are,  in 
their  simple  purity  and 
grace,  too  lovely  to  be  ignored.  They  are 
so  nobly  impressive,  so  grandly  and  unos- 
tentatiously appropriate,  so  richly  beau- 
tiful, that  they  sink  deeply  into  the  mind 
and  remain  as  the  final  and  abiding  mem- 
ory, when  all  else  shall  have  become  a 
mere  undistinguishable  deposit  of  fea- 
tureless impressions.  I  am  filled  with  a 
deep  respect  for  the  minds  which,  in  spite 
of  divergent  temperaments  and  tradi- 
tions, could  cooperate  with  so  happy  an 
effect.  For,  with  the  sole  exception  of  the 
Fisheries  building  (which  seems  to  strike 
a  slightly  discordant  note),  all  those  clas- 
sic fajades,  roofs  and  porticos  unite  into  a 
chord  of  delicious  harmon}^.  Each  edifice 
has  its  own  individuality,  accentuating  its 
own  note,  as  it  were  ;  but  it  is  duly  sub- 
ordinate to  the  grand  ensemble.  To  my 
mind,  nothing  more  beautiful  has  ever 
been  devised,  in  the  wajr  of  a  building, 
than  the  Greek  temple.  There  is  a  noble, 
tranquil  dignity  in  its  straight  lines, 
sculptured  pediments  and  stately  columns. 
It  is  all  so  sane,  so  rational,  and  yet  in- 
stinct with  loftiness,  austerity  and  grace. 
Only  fancy  what  a  petrified  nightmare  the 
Fair  would  have  been,  if  the  Gothic  type 
had  been  substituted  !  What  bewildering 
jumbles  of  fantastic  arches,  roofs  and 
spires  ;  what  a  riot  of  unfettered  imagina- 
tion ;  what  an  infinite  and  discordant 
variety  of  unrelated  parts  would  have 


A   NEW    WORLD  FABLE. 


177 


ST.   GAUDENS'    "  COLUMBUS." 


i78 


A   NEW    WORLD  FABLE. 


THE   TELEPHONE    EXCHANGE. 


sprung  upon  our  startled  vision  !  For 
there  is  no  such  restraining  unity  of  type 
in  the  Gothic  architecture  as  there  is  in 
the  Greek.  And  one  sees  the  latter  in 
Jackson  Park  in  the  most  favorable  en- 
vironment. 

There  was  a  sunny  illumination  dif- 
fused over  the  whole  magnificent  spectacle 
on  the  morning  when  it  first  challenged 
my  attention.  I  had  come  with  a  pair  of 
critical  New  York  spectacles  on  my  nose, 
and  I  was  not  going  to  be  bamboozled  by 
Chicago  swagger  into  approving  of  any- 
thing which  did  not  commend  itself  to 
the  enlightened  eastern  judgment.  Truth 
to  tell,  I  was  resolved  rigidly  to  preserve 
my  mental  equilibrium,  and  on  my  return 
home  to  talk  about  the  Fair  in  a  judi- 
ciously discriminating  and  slighth*  patron- 
izing tone,  as  it  behooved  a  man  who, 
like  the  wily  Ulysses,  had  "traveled  far 
and  visited  the  capitals  of  many  nations." 
But  thevery  first  glimpseof  the  White  City 
(from  the  lake)  disarmed  me.  Possibly  I 
am  rather  impressionable,  liable  to  be 
taken  off  my  feet  by  the  sight  of  some- 
thing truly  beautiful.  Things  grandly 


and  nobly  beautiful  are,  as  most  of  us  are 
aware,  extremely  rare  on  this  continent — 
nay,  on  any  continent.  Most  of  us,  too, 
when  we  were  young,  dreamed  dreams 
and  had  glorious  visions  which  in  soberer 
years  we  dismissed  as  foolish  and  in- 
capable of  realization.  It  is  only  in  this 
way  I  can  account  for  the  fact  that  the 
Fair  impressed  me  with  a  strange  famili- 
arity. I  felt  sure  I  had  seen  it  before, 
though  I  could  not  tell  when  or  where. 
That  splendid  Court  of  Honor,  with  its 
monumental  stateliness  and  simple  gran- 
deur— the  long,  majestic  peristyle,  with 
its  sculptured  figures,  reflected  in  the 
lagoon,  and  the  great  central  arch, "with 
its  triumphal  quadriga — all  bore  to  me 
some  incomprehensible  affinity  to  some- 
thing I  had.  seen  or  read  or  dreamed  in 
the  present  or  in  a  previous  existence. 
The  statue  of  the  Republic  welcoming  the 
nations  was,  to  be  sure,  distinctly  new, 
and  for  that  reason  seemed  a  trifle  out  of 
tune  ;  though  I  soon  managed  to  fit  her 
into  a  vacant  niche  in  my  memory. 

The  fact  that  all  this  felicity  of  effect  is 
attained  primarily  by  an   appeal   to   the 


A   NEW    WORLD  FABLE. 


179 


imagination  does  not  in  the  least  disturb  me.  To  transform  the  perishable  "staff" 
into  pure  Carara  marble  presents  no  difficulties  to  a  poet,  and  even  if  it  did,  the 
magic  touch  of  transfiguring  illusion  is  furnished  by  the  electric  illumination  at 
night.  This,  I  venture  to  assert,  is  the  greatest  spectacle  we,  of  this  generation, 
have  seen  or  shall  be  likely  to  see.  It  is  a  radiant  vision  of  beauty,  which  fills  the 
soul  and  which  one  is  the  better  for  having  seen.  The  strange  white  light  weaves 
an  enchantment  over  the  scene,  giving  it  that  ethereal  remoteness  which  belongs 
to  things  not  wholly  of  this  earth.  As  I  glide  in  and  out  of  the  quiet  lagoons  in 
the  electric  launch,  the  first  sense  of  surprise  passes  away,  and  a  deep  and  ex- 
quisite contentment  possesses  me.  It  is  a  mood  which  in  my  happy,  foolish  years 
was  familiar  enough,  but  which  maturity  seemed  to  have  banished.  It  came  upon 
me  as  a  sweet,  calm  expansion  of  spirit,  a  gentle  exhilaration,  a  complete  and 

joyous  surrender  to  the  moment,  and  a  delighted 
acceptance  of  all  that  it  afforded.     I  drifted  deli- 
ciously  in  a  world  of  glorious  sights.     All  those 
noble  Greek  fa9ades  shone  and  glistened  in  the 
imperishable  substance,  fit  alone  to  embody  such 
lovely  designs  ;   the    Republic,   pure  gold   from 
crown  to  sandals,  loomed  up  in  austere  majesty, 
colossal  and  imposing ;   the  Wooded  Island   lay 
upon  the  water,  light  as  eiderdown,  wrapped  in 
a  mysterious  enchantment  which  made  me  feel 
as  if  I  were  hovering  on  the 
borders  of  fairyland.    Noth- 
ing could  now  stagger  my 
credulity  ;    and  if  the  Diana 
of  St.  Gaudens,  on   the  top 


SLEEP   »FTHE  FLOWERS. 

of  the  Agricultural 
building,  had  sent  an 
arrow  whizzing  over 
my  head,  or  the  quad- 
riga of  the  peristyle 
had  galloped  off  into 
space,  it  would  scarcely 
have  excited  my  won- 
der. It  seemed  therefore  but  a  fitting  finale  to 
the  pantomimic  miracle-play,  when,  silently  and 
without  prelude,  the  Macmonnies  fountain  flung 
into  the  air  its  gorgeous  columns  of  liquid  fire. 
Now  great  spirals,  consisting  of  innumerable 
tiny  sprays,  glowing  in  intensest  orange,  green 
and  crimson,  came  whirling  upwards  ;  now  sil- 
very torrents  shot  toward  the  sky,  uniting  above  in  brilliant  arches  ;  and  for 
half  an  hour,  with  constantly  changing  design,  the  great  masses  of  water  kept  up 
their  dazzling  phantasmagoria.. 

I  wonder  whether  it  is  ungracious  to  say  that  the  majority  of  the  buildings, 
erected  by  foreign  governments,  seem,  from  the  classical  point  of  view,  a  trifle 
barbaric.  The  German  building,  for  instance,  is  a  fine  specimen  of  early  German 
renaissance,  and  in  all  respects  eminently  appropriate  and  satisfactory  ;  but,  for  all 
that,  it  stirred  in  me  the  reflection  that  the  renaissance  was  not  an  improvement 
upon  the  Greek,  but  a  debasement  of  it.  The  Swedish  building  is  terribly  fantastic 
and  exhibits  a  vain  chase  after  originality.  Norway  is  modest  as  to  size,  and 
conscious,  apparently,  of  her  smallness,  makes  a  modest  display.  Her  building 


i8o 


A   NEW    WORLD  FABLE. 


is,  at  least,  national,  and  presents  a  re- 
vival of  certain  archaic  features  (as,  for 
instance,  the  dragon -heads  on  the  gables), 
which  have  of  late  suffered  a  resurrection. 

The  English  building  is  commonplace 
and  uninteresting,  as  are  also  those  of 
Canada  and  New  South  Wales ;  and  the 
only  foreign  structures  which  can  lay 
claim  to  beauty  are  those  of  France  and 
India.  The  latter  presents,  to  my  mind, 
an  exquisite  combination  of  richness  of 
decorative  detail  with  purity  of  design. 
Brazil  is  large  and  pretentious  ;  and,  in 
fact,  all  the  South  American  buildings 
show  a  complete  absence  of  individuality. 

As  for  the  State  buildings,  they  exhibit 
many  varieties  of  beauty  and  ugliness, 
and,  with  a  few  exceptions,  are  not  artist- 
ically successful.  The  best  of  them  all 
is,  to  my  mind,  the  Colonial  Massachu- 
setts mansion,  so  simple,  gray  and  sober, 


\  WET    DAY   IX   THE   PLAISAXCE. 


with  an  air  of  old-fashioned  gentility,  and 
so  charged  with  Puritanical  reminiscence. 
It  calls  up  the  august  .shades  of  Win- 
throps,  Standishes  and  Endicotts,  and 
gives  one  an  agreeable  sense  of  the  age 
and  dignity  of  American  history.  The 
exhibit  within  is  also  appropriate  and 
impressive :  portraits  and  relics  of  the 
great  men  the  state  has  contributed  to  the 
politics  and  literature  of  the  nation.  I 
felt  a  thrill  of  something  like  veneration 
at  the  sight  of  the  cradle  which  had 
rocked  three  (or  was  it  six?)  generations 
of  Adamses.  If  ever  a  museum  of  Amer- 
ican antiquities  is  founded  in  Boston. 
New  York  or  Philadelphia,  I  hope  it  will 
acquire  this  precious  relic. 

The  Pennsylvania  building,  too,  is  in 
excellent  taste,  and  presents  an  historic 
physiognomy.  Inaudible  echoes  of  the 
American  Revolution  seem  to  tremble  in 
the  air  about  it,  and  the  venerable  Liberty 
bell  makes  us  realize  how  far  wrong  Dr. 
Johnson  was  when  he  declared  patriotism 
to  be  the  last  resort  of  a  scoundrel.  Here 
is  a  state  with  a  distinct  individuality, 
which  has  something  in  her  past  of  which 
she  is  justhr  proud.  New  York's  part  in 
the  Revolution  was,  indeed,  less  conspic- 
uous, but  yet  well  worth  commemorating. 
Hamilton,  Gouverneur  Morris  and  John 
Jay  were  New  Yorkers.  But  in  the  New 
York  building,  what  do  we  find  ?  Abso- 
lutel}7  nothing.  A  big,  glaring,  feature- 
less hall,  with  a  great  deal  of  gilding,  and 
Governor  Flower's  bust  on  the  outside. 
There  is  no  building  in  the  whole  collec- 
tion at  the  Fair  (unless  it  be  that  of  Ver- 
mont) which  is  so  drearity  devoid  of  in- 
terest. Roswell  P.  Flower — is  he  the  best 
type  we  have  to  show  of  New  York  intel- 
lect or  statesmanship  ?  The  other  states 
have  not  found  it  necessary  to  give  their 
temporary  executives  such  a  conspicuous 
publicity,  and  the  inference  is  inevitable 
that  we  must  be  particularly  proud  of 
ours. 

Of  the  other  states  which  make  an  am- 
bitious exhibit,  illustrative  of  theirclimate 
and  resources,  one  of  the  most  notable  is 
that  of  Washington.  Its  stuffed  animals 
were  capital,  and  the  miniature  farm  was 
extremely  instructive.  It  taught  me  a 
number  of  things  in  regard  to  agricultural 
machinery  and  methods,  and  impressed 
me  most  vividly  with  the  enormous  re- 
sources of  the  boundless  west.  This 


A  NEW   WORLD  FABLE. 


181 


182 


A   NEW    WORLD  FABLE. 


ocular  dem- 
onstration 
most  of  the 
other  western 
states  failed 
to  make,  ex- 
cept in  the 
most  rudi- 
mentary way,  by  the  sizes  of  their  ears 
of  corn,  pumpkins  and  cabbages.  Wash- 
ington henceforth  will  mean  something 
definite  to  me,  and  the  name  will  call 
up  a  vivid  mental  image,  while  North 
and  South  Dakota  are  merely  vague 
geographical  terms,  devoid  of  any  salient 
feature.  California,  to  be  sure,  rejoices 
in  a  most  picturesque  distinction  of  phys- 
iognomy and  character.  Thanks  to  her 
novelists  and  the  Spanish  strain  in  her 
blood,  .she  casts  a  spell  over  the  imagina- 
tion, and  with  her  golden  profusion  of 
fruit  breathes  a  subtle  tropical  fragrance. 
She  cuts  a  most  fascinating  figure  at  the 
Fair,  and  made  me  vow  in  my  secret  soul 
to  retire  thither  from  all  the  jarring  noises 
of  life  and  bury  myself  deep  in  some  idyl- 
lic, tropical  paradise,  where  neither  the 
woman  nor  the  serpent  could  follow  me. 
Unhappily,  I  had  to  postpone  the  date 
longer  than,  at  present,  seems  agreeable  ; 
but  I  shall  henceforth  cherish  the  dream 
and  be  the  richer  for  it. 

I  do  not  know  why  that  distinction  of 
physiognomy  which  delighted  me  in  Cali- 
fornia seemed  totalty  lacking  in  the  Florida 
building  and  exhibit,  interesting  though 
the\-  were.  It  may  have  been  because 
Florida  has  no  literary  associations  to 
compare  with  those  of  the  Pacific  state  ; 
and  it  ma}^  be,  too,  because  of  the  ob- 


trusively commercial  aspect  of  her  dis- 
play. The  interior  of  the  building  was 
simply  a  bazaar  for  the  sale  and  adver- 
tising of  Florida  products,  from  corals 
and  fruits  to  alligators  and  chameleons. 

The  monastic,  Spanish  type  of  the 
California  building  naturally  suggests  the 
convent  Iva  Rabida,  which  in  point  of  ap- 
^^^^^^^^^^^^HBJ  propriateness  over- 
tops everything  else 
at  the  Fair:  The 
Columbus  relics, 
the  primitive  charts, 
the  paintings  illus- 
trating the  principal 
scenes  in  the  life  of 
the  great  navigator, 
furnish  just  that  lit- 
tle, vivifying  touch 


to  the  fane}'  which  enables  it  to  realize 
his  mental  equipment  and  physical  en- 
vironment like  a  contemporary.  Though 
I  do  not  know  a  single  nrystic  incident 
connected  with  La  Rabida,  it  looked  to 
me  as  if  every  inch  of  its  adobe  walls 
were  cobwebbed  and  ivied  with  murky 
legends. 

Being  so  far  immersed  in  the  past,  I 
count  a  stride  of  a  couple  of  thousand 
3*ears  no  great  feat.  The  uncouth  artificial 
mountain,  purporting  to  contain  relics  of 
the  cliff-dwellers,  mildly  piqued  my  curi- 
osity, and  I  was  promptly  swallowed  up 
in  a  deep  cave  of  brown-painted  canvas 
and  sheet-iron.  In  the  semi-dusk  within 
I  ran  against  an  anachronistic  and  unhis- 
torical  billy-goat, — or  it  ma}-  have  been 
a  genuine,  cliff-dwelling  billy-goat,  who 
had  survived  like  the  reputed  toad  in  the 


A   NEW    WORLD  FABLE. 


183 


heart  of  the  stone.  At  any  rate,  no  other 
domestic  animal  could  have  rejoiced  the 
souls  and  smoothed  the  rough  paths  of 
those  antediluvian  gentlemen,  and  I  shall 
want  to  see  even  a  goat  climb  one  of  those 
hypothetical  ladders,  connecting  their 
caves  with  the  bottom  lands,  before  I  be- 
lieve such  a  feat  possible.  But  what  a  tre- 
mendous vista  this  exhibit  (which  bore 
every  evidence  of  being  authentic)  opened 
into  the  past  of  this  American  continent ! 
What  a  terrible,  annihilating  sense  of  in- 
significance overwhelms  one  at  the  reali- 
zation of  this  endless  procession  of  races 
which  has  preceded  us  and  shall  succeed 
us  !  On  the  other  hand,  what  an  imperial 
destiny  it  promises  to  mankind  !  What  a 
dizzy  outlook  into  a  future  of  infinite  per- 
fectibility, physically,  mentally,  spiritu- 
ally !  This  is  the  stuff  that  hope  is  made 
of — sanguine,  confident  hope  and  trust  in 
the  evolution  of  humanity  to  ever  higher 
conditions,  and  the  realization  of  an  ever 
nobler  happiness,  from  century  to  century. 
It  is  only  purblind  bats,  groping  in  the 
oppressive  dusk  of  their  own  individual 
pigmy  souls,  who  refuse  to  see  this.  As 
far  advanced  as  we  are  beyond  the  cliff- 
dwellers,  as  far  will  ten— nay,  perhaps 
five — centuries  advance  our  descendants 
beyond  us.  That  was  what  the  cliff- 
dweller  taught  me;  or,  rather,  they  dem- 


onstrated it  to  me  afresh,  with  the  co- 
gency of  irrefutable  logic.  The  inspection 
of  their  primitive  utensils  and  clothing 
gave  me  a  glimpse,  too,  of  what  pathet- 
ically bare  and  hunted  lives  they  must 
have  led,  pursued  and  pursuing,  blindly 
following  the  law  of  self-preservation 
which  drove  them  up  the  sheer  cliffs  and 
i«to  the  very  heart  of  the  mountains. 

In  the  immediate  vicinity  of  these  pre- 
historic folk  lies,  appropriately  enough, 
the  Anthropological  building,  which  is 
architecturally  unpretentious,  but  so 
crowded  with  valuable  and  instructive 
exhibits  that  .scarcely  a  year  would  suffice 
to  exhaust  its  interest.  Those  ancient 
Peruvian  cemeteries,  whose  hideous  mum- 
mies, swathed  and  unswathed,  sat  in 
ghastly  groups,  making  blood-curdling 
faces  at  each  other,  were  unpleasantly 
suggestive.  There  was  one  blackish- 
brown  squatter,  in  particular,  who  pur- 
sued me  for  a  week  in  my  dreams.  His 
face  was  screwed  up  into  an  expression  of 
heart-rending  mirth,  with  a  fascination 
of  horror  in  it  which  would  have  made  it 
a  find -to  E.  T.  A.  Hoffmann  or  Edgar  Al- 
lan Poe.  However,  he,  too,  had  his  in- 
structive side,  no  doubt ;  or  he  would  not 
have  been  there.  The  indefatigable,  I 
might  almost  say  the  alarming,  activities 
of  man  in  hundreds  and  thousands  of 


THE    BRIDAL    PROCESSION — CAIRO   STREET. 


1 84 


A   NEW    WORLD  FABLE. 


directions  are  here  exhibited  with  a  pains- 
taking accuracy  and  minuteness  which 
fill  one  with  admiration.  And  what  is 
more,  the  educational  value  of  the  exhibit 
was  greatly  heightened  by  the  descriptive 
labels,  the  absence  of  which,  in  other 
departments,  threw  one  entirely  on  the 
mercy  of  the  official  catalogue.  And  I 
confess,  after  two  days  of  conscientious 
delving  in  that  somewhat  puzzling  volume, 
I  resolved  to  be  frivolous  and  enjoy  1113- - 
self,  culling  only  such  information  as 
could  be  had  without  too  much  exertion. 
I  thus  learned,  incidentally,  the  awful 
consequences  of  tight  lacing,  physio- 
logically demonstrated  by  charts  ;  and 
though  I  never  expect  personally  to  profit 
by  this  knowledge,  it  is  a  great  satis- 
faction to  me  to  possess  it.  So,  also,  the 
routine  of  life  and  the  correctionary  dis- 
cipline at  the  Elmira  reformatory  will 
probably  never  be  of  any  personal  impor- 
tance to  me ;  but,  for  all  that,  it  is  a  de- 
lightful thing  to  have  been  made  aware 
what  I  have  escaped  by 
not  going  there.  The 
same  observation  applies 
to  the  Philadelphia  peni- 
tentiary (made  famous  in 
Dickens's  "American 
Notes"),  which,  in  point 
of  vividness  and  compre- 
hensibility,  surpassed  all 


FIRE    CONTROLLED   AND   UNCONTROLLED — 
ADMINISTRATION    BUILDING. 


similar  models  I  have  seen.  I  think, 
after  having  studied  it  for  an  hour,  I 
could  successfully  pilot  any  hero  of  mine 
through  a  term  of  five  or  ten  years,  if  he 
should  have  the  misfortune  to  go  to  jail. 
A  romantic  novelist  (whose  heroes  are 
notoriously  liable  to  such  accidents)  ought 
really  to  be  provided  with  such  a  model : 
and  if  I  had  been  a  romanticist,  I  should 
have  ordered  a  facsimile  of  the  present 
one. 

Of  Machinery  Hall  I  have  nothing  to 
say,  except  that  one  had  to  be  a  specialist 
in  some  branch  of  mechanics  to  enjoy  it. 
To  me  it  was  bewildering,  nerve-shatter- 
ing. I  have  no  sympathy  with  the  man 
who  declared  that  the  Corliss  engine  (at 
the  Philadelphia  exposition)  was  to  him 
more  poetic  than  all  the  poets,  from 
Homer  to  Tennyson.  There  is,  indeed,  a 
demoniac  energy  in  machinery,  and  a  vast 
suggestiveness,  too,  when  one  considers 
the  transformation  of  society  and  of  in- 
dividual lives  which  it  has  brought  about. 

The  steam  en- 
ine  is  the 
most  revolu- 
tionary agen- 
cy the  world 
has  ever  seen, 
compared  to 
which  Robes- 
pierre and  the 
terrorists  were 
feeble  bun- 
glers. But  it 
makes  too 
much  racket, 
emits  too 
many  odors, 
and  is  too 
ruthlessly  for- 
midable  for 
me  to  appreci- 
ate its  poetry. 
I  fled,  with  a 
sense  of  relief, 
to  the  Electri- 
cal building, 

where  the  noise  was  less  ear-splitting,  and 
saw  a  variety  of  the  most  astonishing 
things  done  by  this  great  and  n^-sterious 
agency.  Here  is  another  wonder-working 
force,  which  is  obviously  destined  pro- 
foundly to  affect  and  metamorphose  hu- 
man existence.  For  the  spiritual  and  in- 
tellectual results  of  mechanical  inventions 


A  NEW    WORLD  FABLE. 


185 


&1>s^^M^'j&£X&&^ESn*ft^F*&^+ 

. 


THE   WOMAN'S    BUILDING 


are  tremendous  and  incalculable.  Rail- 
roads and  telegraphs  consolidate  empires, 
harmonize  antagonistic  tendencies  in  the 
population,  and  accomplish  what  the 
wisest  statesmanship  would  despair  of 
achieving.  One  need  be  neither  a  prophet 
nor  the  son  of  a  prophet  to  feel  the  enor- 
mous possibilities  for  the  amelioration  of 
the  human  lot,  and  the  consequent  im- 
provement in  human  relations,  which  are 
inherent  in  this  elusive  messenger  from 
the  unknown. 

In  the  Manufactures  and  Liberal  Arts 
building  I  could  profitably  have  spent  a 
month,  if  not  a  year;  but,  owing  to  the  re- 
puted shortness  of  human  life,  I  contented 
myself  with  four  or  five  visits.  Unhappily, 
the  mind  soon  becomes  callous  and  refuses 
to  receive  fresh  impressions.  It  is  sus- 
ceptible only  of  a  dull,  faded  or  blurred 
image,  like  that  of  a  negative  exposed  too 


long  to  the  light.  Though  I  remember, 
in  a  jumbled  way,  hundreds  of  exhibits, 
there  were  only  three  things  that  roused 
me  from  that  dazed  indifference  which 
marked  the  limit  of  my  capacity  for  im- 
pressions. First,  the  exhibit  of  petrified 
woods  from  the  Yellowstone  had  that  lit- 
tle tang  of  the  fanciful  which  appealed  to 
my  imagination.  The  beauty  of  the  pol- 
ished surfaces  was  so  extraordinary  — 
with  splendidly  fantastic  lines  and  gor- 
geous splashes  of  color  —  that  it  roused 
me  from  my  apathy  like  a  bugle  note  ; 
and  the  thin  flakes,  held  up  against  the 
light,  showed  landscapes  and  cloud -pic- 
tures of  extraordinary  boldness,  worthy 
of  a  Calame  or  Dore. 

The  second  marvel  upon  which  I  feasted 
my  eyes  was  the  exhibit  of  Bohemian 
glass  ;  but  my  space  prevents  me  from 
taking  note  of  all  its  lavish  brilliancy  of 


1 86 


A   NEW    WORLD  FABLE. 


form  and  color.  The  Tyrolese  wood-carv- 
ing also  displayed  a  great  deal  of  truly 
artistic  excellence  ;  and  the  Schwarzwal- 
der  clocks  were  sufficiently  curious  and 
charming  and  characteristically  Ger- 
man to  make  me  linger  with  pleasure 
among  them.  I  agree  with  Mark  Twain, 
however,  that  if  I  ever  have  an  enemy, 
whose  life  I  might  wish  to  shorten,  I 
shall  make  him  a  present  of  a  cuckoo- 
clock. 

Of  the  Fine  Arts  building,  in  which  I 
made  my  most  profitable  and  delightful 
studies,  I  shall  say  nothing  ;  for,  as  Rud- 
yard  Kipling  has  remarked,  that  is  an- 
other story,  and  it  would  require  a  sep- 
arate article,  if  not  a  separate  volume  to 
do  it  justice.  The  Woman's  exhibit  I 
also  cheerfully  leave  to  specialists  in  that 
department,  pleading  complete  and  abject 
incompetence.  The  Midway  Plaisance,  I 
admit,  tempts  me  sorely  ;  but  here,  too,  I 
shall  have  to  exercise  self-restraint.  It 
was,  in  my  opinion,  by  no  means  the  least 
valuable  part  of  the  Fair.  How  it  must 
have  stored  the  minds  of  thousands  upon 
thousands  of  rural  visitors  with  impres- 
sions which  will  and  must  vastly  expand 


their  mental  horizon  !  And  what  inex- 
haustible themes  of  conversation  it  will 
suppl}T  in  thousands  of  farms  and  village 
grocery  stores,  for  years  to  come  !  The 
rural  American  will  be  modified  by  the 
Fair  in  manifold  wa}'S,  and  I  think,  to  his 
advantage.  He  will  be  a  broader  and  bet- 
ter informed  man,  with  a  wider  outlook 
on  life.  He  will  be  less  provincial,  less 
narrowly  parochial  and  Philistine.  I  only 
hope  he  will  not,  in  his  admiration  of  the 
buildings  at  Jackson  Park,  cover  the  land 
with  Greek  temples  which,  in  their  monu- 
mental grandeur,  are  ill  adapted  for  do- 
mestic purposes. 

The  whole  beautiful  pageant  will,  as  a 
mere  memory,  exercise  an  elevating  in- 
fluence which  will  endure  be\-ond  the  pres- 
ent generation.  That  it  should  so  soon 
be  reduced  to  a  mere  memory  may,  how- 
ever, cause  one  a  sentimental  heartache. 
But  it  is,  after  all,  better  to  have  it  vanish 
suddenly,  in  a  blaze  of  glory,  than  fall 
into  gradual  disrepair  and  dilapidation. 
There  is  no  more  melancholy  spectacle 
than  a  festal  hall,  the  morning  after  the 
banquet,  when  the  guests  have  departed 
and  the  lights  are  extinguished. 


A   GLIMPSB   AT    THK    NORWKGIAX    KXHIKIT — M  A  NIT  I'  ACTURKS   BUILDING. 


A    NATION   OF   DISCOVERERS. 

BY  H.  C.  CHATFIKI-D-TAVI.OR. 

DURING  the  summer  months  three  Norsemen  had  braved  the  fogs  of  Arctic 
outlandish  ships  have  floated  upon  seas,  and  had  brought  back  to  their 
the  waters  of  Lake  Michigan.  The  tin-  northern  home  the  knowledge  of  a  land 
gainly  prows  and  lofty  poops,  the  clumsy  across  the  ocean,  where  vines  and  pine 
yards  and  box-like  sterns  of  these  weird  trees  grew, 
craft  were  there  to  remind  us 
of  the  daring  voyage  of  the 
great  Genoese  navigator  in 
whose  honor  the  magic  White 
City  was  reared. 

But  another  strange  ship  was 
moored  near  by,  a  seeming  pro- 
test against  the  presence  of  the 
Spanish  caravels,  a  protest 
against  the  name  and  date  of 
the  World's  Columbian  Expo- 
sition. The  rakish  Viking 
craft,  with  its  dragon-prow  and 
graceful  sheer,  was  there  to  tell 
us  that  nearly  five  centuries  be- 
fore the  golden  age  of  Spanish 
discovery  a  crew  of  hardy  IN  THE  JAVA  VILLAGE. 


i88 


A   NA  riON  OF  DISCO  VERERS. 


IN   THE   KRUPP   PAVILION. 


If  this  be  true,  and  there  seems  to  be 
no  good  reason  to  doubt  it,  why  have  we 
been  celebrating  the  four  hundredth  an- 
niversary of  the  discovery  of  America  by 
Columbus,  and  not  the  nine  hundredth 
anniversary  of  the  discovery  of  Vinland 
by  Lief  Ericson  ;  why 
have  a  Spanish  princess 
and  a  Spanish  duke  been 
the  guests  of  the  nation, 


THE   JAPANESE    THEATER. 


and  not  some  fair-  haired  Norwegian — if 
such  there  be — in  whose  veins  flows  the 
blood  of  Lief  Ericson  ? 

The  answer  is  that  Ericson,  whether 
myth  or  reality,  brought  back  no  knowl- 
edge of  benefit  to  his  country  or  man- 
kind. His  voj-age  was  as  abortive  of  real 
value  to  the  world  as  the  winter  cruise  of 
a  Gloucester  smack.  This  was  not  the 
fault  of  Ericson  but  rather  of  the  age  in 
which  he  lived. 

"While    Lief's  hardy   crew  were  bat- 
tling with    the  winds  and   fogs  of  an 
unknown  coast,   Europe  was   writhing 
in  darkest  miser}-.     Ignorance,  bigotry, 
and  tyranny  the  mediaeval  triumvirate 
of  oppression,  ruled    supreme.     Lief's 
kinsmen  were  marching 
through  England,    "lighting 
their  war  beacons  as  they 
went"  in  blazing  homestead 
and  town.      In  Germany, 
youthful  Otto  in.  was  strug- 
gling with   the  discordant 
remnants  of  Charlemagne's 
empire,  while  in  France,  the 
Normans   were    gathering 
power  for  a  future  descent 
upon  Saxon  land,  and  the 
house  of  Capet  was  strug- 
gling to  create  a  throne. 
Italy  was  still   suffering  the 
ruinous    effects  of  barbarian 
inroads,  and  in  Spain  Alman- 


A   NA  77 ON  OF  DISCO  VERERS. 


189 


sor,  the  last  conqueror  of  the  Omeyyades, 
was  gathering  the  dust  of  fifty  victories 
over  the  Christians  to  scatter  upon  his 
Moslem  grave.  The  clash  of  arms  re- 
sounded through  Europe ;  the  light  of 
learning  flickered  faintly  in  the  halls  of 
Byzantium  and 
Cordova,  leaving 
the  rest  of  the 
world  in  darkness. 
It  was  an  age  of  ig- 
norance. Had  Lief 
Ericson  scattered 
his  knowledge  of  a 
western  land  far 
and  wide,  the  world 
would  have  cared 
nothing  for  his  dis- 
covery. He  was  ig- 
norant of  its  value ; 
he  was  not  commis- 
sioned or  author- 
ized by  any  nation. 
His  voyage  was 
without  conse- 
quence. It  was  not 
a  real  discovery.! 


followed  in  their  wake,  spreading  Chris- 
tianity over  a  double  continent. 

Before  the  actual  discovery  of  America 
was  possible,  Europe  must  grope  for  cent- 
uries in  mediaeval  darkness  and  then  burst 
into  the  light  of  the  sixteenth  century — a 


PANELS  ON  EITHER  SIDE  OF  THE  GOLDEN  DOORWAY. 

Had  Columbus  sailed  in  1000,  instead  of 
in  1492,  his  effort  would  have  been  as  bar- 
ren of  result  as  that  of  Ericson.  No  Spain 
would  have  sent  her  soldiers  forth  to  con- 
quer; no  chanting  Dominicans  would  have 


light  made  lurid 
by  the  blood  of 
persecution,  but 
splendid  in  its  re- 
sults ;  a  li  ght 
whose  first  rays 
were  to  guide  the 
Genoese  navigator 
to  a  new  world, 
and  whose  fading 
luster  was  to  see 
the  conquering 
banner  of  Saxon 
progress  planted 
on  its  shores. 

Great  men  and 
great  deeds,  during 
the  centuries  fol- 
lowing Ericson, 
were  to  hew  a  path 
for  Columbus  and 
the  Spaniards. 
Peter  the  Hermit, 

firing  the  zeal  of  some  and  the  cupidity 
of  others,  inspired  a  movement  which 
united  the  men  of  Europe  in  a  common 
cause.  Rough  barons  and  their  vassals 
were  brought  together  in  friendly  rivalry  ; 


then,  marching  through 
the  Eastern  empire  to  the 
plains  of  Palestine,  they 
came  in  contact  with 
Greek  civilization  and 
Saracen  luxury. 

The  crusades  opened 
new  markets  to  trade. 
The  galleys  of  Venice  and 
Genoa,  sailing  to  Pales- 
tine with  supplies  and  re- 
turning with  oriental  pro- 
ducts, created  the  wealth  , 
of  the  Italian  cities;  while 
in  the  north  the  monarchs, 
freeing  themselves  from  A  GROUP  01 

the  encroachments  of  bar- 
ons— too  remote  or  too  impoverished  to  de- 
fend their  privileges — welded  the  scattered 
elements  of  feudalism  into  nations.  The 
great  towns  of  Italy  and  German}-,  uniting 
in  defensive  leagues,  threw  off  the  bondage 
of  robber  lords,  and  created  the  commer- 
cial spirit,  which  has  found  its  greatest 
triumph  in  the  exposition  of  1893. 

Averroes,  Abelard,  and,  greatest  of  all, 
Roger  Bacon,  arose  in  the  cause  of  phil- 
osophy and  science,  while  the  .scholars  of 
the  East,  driven  from  Constantinople  by 
the  Turks,  created  the  new  learning  made 
glorious  by  Boccaccio  and  Dante.  Chris- 
tian missionaries,  penetrating  the  depths 


of  Asia,  brought  back  a 
knowledge  of  Cathay  and 
an  eastern  ocean,  which 
Marco  Polo,  writing  in  his 
prison,  corroborated  and 
magnified  by  accounts  of 
the  kingdoms  and  marvels 
of  the  East.  Thus,  Asia, 
like  Europe,  was  known 
to  be  bounded  by  an  ocean, 
and  when  Constantinople 
fell  and  Turkish  pirates 
drove  the  fleets  of  Genoa 
and  Venice  from  the  east- 
ern markets,  it  was  nat- 
JAVANESB.  ural,  that  navigators 

should   search    for  a   way 
to  reach  the  riches  of  the  Indies. 

Prince  Henry  the  Navigator,  watching 
on  his  sacred  promontory  of  Algarve,  saw 
his  Portuguese  mariners  returning  from 
Porto  Santo  and  Madeira  ;  saw  Gilianez 
come  back  after  doubling  Cape  Bojador  ; 
and  children  were  then  living  who  were 
destined  to  know  the  achievements  of 
Columbus,  Gama  and  Magellan.  The 
times  were  ripe  for  discovery.  All  that 
was  needed  was  one  great  genius  to  con- 
ceive the  idea  of  finding  Asia  by  sailing 
to  the  west,  and  one  great  nation  prepared 
to  furnish  men  and  means,  prepared  to 
seize  the  benefits  of  disco verv.  That 


IN    THE    DANISH    EXHIBIT— I.IBERAT.    ARTS   BUILDING. 


A   NATION  OF  DISCOVERERS. 


191 


192 


A   NA  TION  OF  DISCO  VERERS. 


genius  was  Columbus  ;  that  nation  was 
Spain. 

Columbus  needs  no  praise — his  trials 
and  victories  are  fully  known  ;  his  eulo- 
gy is  the  World's  Columbian  Exposi- 
tion. But  the  part  played  by  Spain, 
and  her  peculiar  fitness  for  discovery 
and  conquest,  are  not  so  thoroughly 
understood.  The  popular  mind  accepts 
too  readily  the  charge  of  cruelty  and 
bigotry  brought  by  England  against 
her  rival,  and  forgets  that  while  Tor- 
quemada  was  lighting  the  fires  of  the 
Inquisition,  Henry  viu.  was  divorcing 
and  beheading  his  wives,  and  Thomas 
Cromwell  was  crushing  the  Commons 
and  creating  a  new  despotism.  It  for- 
gets that  while  the  austere  Phillip  re- 
joiced in  an  auto-da-fe,  his  fiendish 
English  wife  was  burning  such  men  as 
Latimer  and  Cranmer.  It  was  an  age 
of  bigotry.  The  good  fortune  which 
blessed  England  with  a  crafty  queen, 
who  saw  that  toleration  was  ' '  good  pol- 
itics,'  '  while  Spain  was  cursed  with  a  royal 
monk,  should  not  diminish  the  fame  of 
the  glorious  Spaniards  who  "gave  a  world 
to  a  world." 

Spain  was    preeminently  qualified   for 
the  task  of  discovery.     That  she  should 


THE    PUCK    BUILDING. 

have  produced  the  brave  explorers  of  the 
sixteenth  century  was  the  natural  se- 
quence of  her  history.  She  guarded  the 
portals  of  the  ancient  world,  and  ne  plus 
ultra,  the  device  of  her  arms,  was  typical 
of  the  knowledge  of  the  age.  It  was  a 


A   CORNER   IN   THE    MINING    BUILDING 


A   NATION  OF  DISCOVERERS. 


193 


pretty  sentiment 
which  prompted 
her  to  change 
that  device  to 
plus  ultra,  in  ac- 
knowledgement 
of  the  newly  dis- 
covered world. 

Seven  cen- 
turies of  unrelenting  war  against 
the  infidel  produced  a  type  of 
hardened  Spaniard,  courageous  and  crafty, 
dogged  and  fanatical.  From  the  time 
when  Pelagius,  first  king  of  the  Asturias, 
drove  the  Moors  from  their  mountain 
fastnesses  and  offered  the  first  check  to 
the  advance  of  the  Crescent ;  to  the  hour 
when  Boabdil,  last  ruler  of  Granada, 
gazed  back  upon  the  red  towers  of  the 
Alhambra,  and  sighed  for  the  kingdom 
he  had  lost,  the  sword  of  the  Spaniard 
had  scarcely  been  sheathed.  Inured  to 
hardship,  with  wits  sharpened  by  expe- 
rience, and  heart  fired  with  fanatical  zeal 
for  the  Cross,  the  Spaniard  of  1492  was 
peculiarly  prepared  for  the  danger  of  dis- 
covery. Impoverished  by  continuous 
war,  cupidity  sometimes  replaced  his  re- 
ligious fervor,  but  whatever  motive  in- 
spired his  efforts,  he  was  seldom  wanting 
in  courage  or  expedient. 

The  seven  centuries  of  Moorish  war- 
fare left  a  sturdy  nation  united  under  the 
rule  of  two  sovereigns  whose  contrasting 
characters  were  peculiarly  well  designed 
to  place  Spain  in  the  front  rank  of  na- 
tions. Queen  Isabella's  unflinching  zeal 
for  her  subject's  welfare,  brought  honest}' 
out  of  corruption,  order  out  of  chaos,  and 
gave  Castile  the  blessing  of  a  wise  and 
stable  government.  Her  keen  insight  en- 
abled her  to  select  the  right  men  to  serve 
her  purposes.  By  choosing  young  Gon- 
calo  de  Cordova  from  among  a  score  of 
older  veterans,  she  gave  her  husband  a 
military  genius,  unflinching  in  courage, 
unfailing  in  expedient,  whose  victories 
were  destined  to  revolutionize  the  art  of 
war  and  make  Spain  the  foremost  power 
in  Europe.  Ferdinand's  consummate  di- 
plomacy, supplementing  the  conquests  of 
the  great  captain,  triumphed  in  an  age 
of  craft,  and  gave  to  Aragon  the  half  of 
Italy,  while  magnanimous  Isabella,  view- 
ing the  proposals  of  Columbus  in  their 
true  light,  won  through  his  genius  a  new 
world  for  Castile. 


Gre?t  as  was  the  ability  of 
Columbus,  great  as  was  the  pat- 
riotism of  Isabella,  the  Spanish 
soldier  was  the  genius  of  the  dis- 
covery and  conquest  of  America. 
The  fall  of  the  Moorish  capital 
brought  a  temporar}7  respite  for 
the  arms  of  Spain,  and  the  rest- 
less spirits  of  the  Grenadine 
wars,  seeking  new  fields  for 
their  daring,  carried  the  trium- 
phant banner  of  Castile  through  the  two 
Americas.  One  cannot  think  of  the  Span- 
iards and  Portuguese  of  that  age  without 
becoming  lost  in  admiration  of  deeds  that 
have  never  been  excelled.  Within  half 
a  century  a  galaxy  of  heroes  went  forth 
from  the  Spanish  peninsula.  The  Pin- 
zons,  able  lieuten- 
ants of  the  great 
Genoese;  Balboa, 
the  discoverer  of  the 
Pacific,  the  projec- 
tor of  the  conquest 
of  Peru,  who  drag- 
ged his  ships  piece 
by  piece  across  the 
Darien  isthmus  only  to  meet  discourage- 
ment and  an  ignominious  death  ;  Magel- 
lan, the  intrepid  martyr,  by  the  side  of 
whose  achievement  the  first  voyage  of 
Columbus  sinks  into  insignificance  ;  the 
Pizarros,  cruel  but  successful  conquerors, 
who  fought  their  own  feuds  while  subdu- 
ing an  empire  ;  Hernando  Cortez,  crafty, 
fearless  soldier,  whose  exploits  stand  un- 
paralleled in  histor}' ;  Cabeca  de  Vaca, 
the  Spanish  Fremont;  De  Soto,  veteran 
of  Peru,  explorer  of  the  Mississippi,  and 


1 


194 


A   NA  TION  OF  DISCO  VERERS. 


others  of  equal  daring,  too  numerous  to 
mention. 

In  remembering  the  deeds  of  that  won- 
derful race  of  men,  one  must  not  forget 
their  misdeeds.  Even  Cortes  and  Pizarro 
were  unnecessarily  cruel,  and  coarse, 

domineering 
Bishop  Fon- 
seca,  the  ene- 
my of  Col- 
umbus, con- 
trolled the 
department 
of  Indian  af- 
fairs, from 
whence  he 
sent  forth 
such  govern- 
ors as  Ovan- 
do,  to  crush 
the  Indians 
in  the  mines, 
and  Davila  y 
Padilla  to  op- 
press,  mur- 
der and  pil- 
lage gener- 
ally. It  was 
an  age  of  conquest,  and  where  is  the  con- 
quest free  from  cruelty  ?  The  best  defense 
of  the  "bigoted  and  cruel  Spaniard"  of 
that  day  is  to  consider  his  English  con- 
temporaries, and  to  remember  that  side 
by  side  with  Ovando  and  Davila  was  the 
sublime  Las  Casas,  Garrison  of  his  age, 
the  grandest  Christian  since  the  days  of 
Christ. 

In  recalling  the  deeds  of  Spain  I  am 
not  forgetting  the  debt  Americans  owe  to 


GREAT    SCOTT   !      MARIA 


England.  Spain 
was  the  Saxon, 
England  the 
Norman  of  our 
history.  It  was 
only  when  the 
two  nations 
grappled  in  the 
struggle  for 
suprem  acy, 
that  England 
thought  of  deal- 
ing her  rival  a 
death  blow  by 
attacking  the 
rich  American 
possessions. 
Spain  had  work- 
ed out  her  des- 
tiny. To  Eng- 
land was  award-  "  CAN  YOU  TELL  ME  WHERE  THE 
ed  the  task  of 

finishing  the  work  that  Spain  had  begun 
so  splendidly. 

Spain  has  been  honored  during  the 
World's  Columbian  Exposition,  as  the 
country  which  supplied  Columbus  with 
men  and  ships,  but  Americans  should  re- 
member that  she  is  the  grand-parent — 
England  is  the  parent — of  our  nation. 
The  exposition  has  made  Columbus  a 
popular  hero,  but  without  the  Spaniards 
of  the  sixteenth  centur>7  his  voyage 
might,  for  a  time  at  least,  have  been  as 
abortive  of  result  as  the  cruise  of  Lief 
Ericson  and  his  Norsemen.  Enough  has 
been  said  of  Columbus,  not  enough  of 
Cortez  and  Balboa,  Magellan  and  Las 
Casas  ;  not  enough  of  Spain. 


A    LUNCH    PARTY. 


LAST    IMPRESSIONS. 


BY  ARTHUR  SHERBURNE  HARDY. 


A  CITY,  with  its  palaces,  streets  and 
gardens,  its  government,  police  and 
fire  departments,  its  industries,  amuse- 
ments and  vast  things  ;  a  "white  city," 
spacious,  beautiful,  costly,  without  pov- 
erty and  without  crime,  with  all  the  com- 
plex machinery  which  goes  with  dense 
population,  but  without  its  grime  ;  a  city 
born  in  a  day,  for  a  day  resplendent  with 
life  and  beauty,  and  tomorrow,  alas  !  des- 
tined to  disappear,  to  become  a  memory, 
like  that  vanished  city  of  Is,  the  chimes 
of  whose  bells  the  fishermen  of  Brittany 
hear  at  night  in  the  hollows  of  the 
waves. 

The  time,  surely,  is  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury ;  and  the  place  the  western  metropo- 
lis of  a  crude  new  world.  The  whir  of 
the  loom,  the  glare  of  the  arc  light,  the 
rush  of  escaping  steam,  are  on  every 
hand  ;  to  all  of  these  ear  and  eye  are 
open,  yet  the  mind  refuses  consent — it  is 
a  dream,  an  El  Dorado,  a  page  torn  from 
the  Arabian  Nights. 

Enough  has  been  written  of  its  glories 
and  treasures  ;  all  has  been  said  and  re- 
said  many  times  ;  yet  for  all  of  us  the 
reality  surpasses  the  pictures  of  pencil 
and  pen.  The  beauty,  the  vastness,  ah, 
but  the  detail  of  it !  Think  of  all  these 
roofs  cover  of  the  toil,  the  ingenuity  of 


hand  and  brain  !  The  mind  deals  with  all 
these  things  instinctively  by  great  num- 
bers ;  weary  of  the  effort  to  count  them, 
to  name  them,  it  can  only  resort  to  words 
it  does  not  comprehend — like  the  early 
algebraist  who  wrote  "heap"  for  un- 
known quantities.  To  enumerate,  to  spec- 


1RKIJ    OUT 


196 


LAST  IMPRESSIONS. 


ify,  carries  no  meaning :  as  well  count 
the  stars  !    Not  only  are  we  tired  of  sta- 
tistics   and    comparisons,    of   the    acres 
under  these  immense  roofs,  the  measures 
of  their  lines,  but  these  lines  are  so  true, 
the  proportions   so  vast,  that  statistics 
and    measures   are  confusing.     All    this 
vastness,   this   complexity,   this  endless 
detail  are  best  realized  by  a  glance,  by  the 
bird's-eye  view — realized  so  well  that  we 
shun  them.     As  in  the  presence  of  some 
Gothic    cathedral   we    move   away   from 
under   its   great   portal,   from   the  shad- 
ows   of   its    buttresses    and    towers,    to 
where    the    mass    of   tracery  and    carv- 
ing is   lost   in    the  statelier  proportions 
of  the  whole,  so  the  de- 
sire is    for  the    distant, 
the  general  point  of  view. 
We  are  all  interested  in 
some  one  or  more  special 
features  of  the  great  ex- 
hibit,   and   are   drawn 
thereby    into    a  closer 
study.     How  hard  it  is  to 
hold  to  one's  thread  in  this 
new   Cretan    maze !     Its 
infinite  variety  fascinates 
us  and    soon  tempts  us 
aside ;   the   purpose  falt- 
ers, the  feet  wander,  we 
begin    to  lose   our  way. 
The  spell  of  the  labyrinth 

is   Upon    US,    and    at    last  a  SAMOAN  BEAUTY. 


eye  and  brain  revolt  again.  Through 
sheer  weariness  of  effort  to  grasp  so  much 
we  yield  once  more  to  the  desire  for  the 
repose,  the  simple  grandeur  and  restful- 
ness  of  a  distant  point  of  view. 

Were  ever  composition,  arrangement, 
variety,  unity — those  principles  invoked 
by  the  artist  in  the  creation  of  his  canvas, 
and  by  the  architect  in  the  erection  of  his 
building — were  ever  these  principles  ap- 
plied on  so  gigantic  a  scale  ?  To  under- 
stand the  success,  think  how  colossal 
would  have  been  blunder  and  failure  ! 
The  spirit  of  criticism  is  silent  the  mo- 
ment we  glide  out  under  the  Venetian 
arches,  upon  the  wide  expanse  of  the 
great  lagoon,  simply  because  the  soul  is 
exalted.  We  hear  its  cry  :  Enjo}-,  enjoy! 
Criticise  afterwards — if  3-011  can.  Build-' 
ings  more  perfect,  domes  more  imposing, 
statues  more  beautiful  —  possibly  —  cer- 
tainly, if  you  will.  But  if  history  tells 
of  any  one  conception  more  stupendous, 
of  greater  variety  and  unity,  whose 
strength  was  more  uplifting  and  beauty 
more  entrancing  than  this — we  do  not  be- 
lieve it !  And  all  our  exultation  is  incar- 
nate in  that  seated  figure,  erect  in  her 
chair,  which  crowns  the  fountain.  How 
conscious  she  is  of  the  magnificence  about 
her !  How  proud,  how  exultant !  We 
cannot  pass  her  by,  she  arrests  us,  be- 
cause she  is  the  expression  of  our  own 
thought  and  feeling,  and  we  will  not  have 
her  die.  Let  the  scene  she  sees  perish, 
if  it  must,  but  not  this  soul  of  it,  whose 
radiant  beauty  is  the  utterance  of  our  own 
pride,  and  whose  face  is  set  to  the  future 
with  so  invincible  a  faith  in  her  destiny. 
Her  name  is  liberty ; 
but  how  many  other 
things  she  stands  for — 
things  which  make  lib- 
erty worth  having,  life 
worth  living,  and  the 
future  a  land  of  promise. 
And  as  she  moves  forward 
to  the  sweep  of  the  oar, 
what  a  background  the 
past  makes  behind  her — 
darker  and  darker,  like 
water  deeps,  as  the 
o  thought  explores  its  van- 
.'  ished  centuries.  Can  any 
one  see  this  star  without 
remembering  the  night 
on  whose  bosom  it  shines? 


LAST  IMPRESSIONS. 


197 


Fairs  there  have  been  from  time  im- 
memorial. But  a  World's  Fair  belongs 
to  this  century,  before  which  there  were 
only  fairs — at  Delphi,  Nemea  and  Cor- 
inth ;  at  Tyre  and  Tarshish;  at  Rome  and 
Aix  and  Troyes;  at  Ypres,  Bruges  and  St. 
Denis ;  and,  last  of  all,  at  Nijnii-Nov- 
gorod,  the  surviving  type  of  a  mediaeval 
trade.  What  points  of  view  far  back  in 
the  centuries  these  names  offer !  when 
commerce,  science  and  learning  crept 
timorously  along  the  coast  lines,  or  trav- 
ersed continents  painfully  a- foot.  In  those 
days  only  fiction  had  conquered  space 
and  time.  Trade  and  knowledge,  and 
love,  too,  were  tethered  by  short  ropes. 
To  girdle  the  earth  in  forty  minutes,  to 
journey  on  a  magic  carpet — what  wild, 
unsubstantial  dreams  !  But  eight  days 
ago  I  was  in  London,  this 
morning  I  transacted  busi- 
ness over  a  thousand  miles  of 
wire,  and  this  moment  my 
friend  in  Bombay  is  reading 
the  message  of  greeting  I  sent 
three  hours  since.  Ah,  how 
many  hours  of  impatient  wait- 
ing ;  how  many  days  of  sus- 
pense; what  months  of  weary 
travel  have  been  annihilated 
since  the  footsore  pilgrims 
gathered  at  the  first  fair !  Not 
only  commerce,  which  can 
bargain  today  with  Cairo  in 
London;  not  only  science,  IN 

which  f.ashes  a  discovery  or 
a  warning  over  continents,  but  the  heart 
which  loves  and  suffers  and  rejoices,  is 


SAMOAN  DANCE. 


NOT  ANXIOUS   FOR    THK  JOB. 


grateful  to  rail  and 
wireand  screw.  And 
what  a  gain  to  com- 
radeship, what  new 
channels  to  the  sym- 
pathy which  makes 
the  whole  world  one ! 
When  theeye  turns 
from  the  Fair  to  the 
people,  there  is  a 
momentary  sense  of 
disappointment  and 
loss  ;  for  amid  such 
marvels  the  eye  in- 
stinctively searches 
for  the  beautiful  and 
the  picturesque,  and 
this  people  is  essentially  commonplace. 
Those  were  brave  days  for  the  artist  when 
the  states  of  Greece  assembled 
at  Delphi  and  the  Fatimite 
caliphs  established  fairs  on 
Mount  Calvary;  when  the 
merchants  of  Italy,  Spain  and 
France  gathered  at  Brie  and 
Champagne;  when  the  Flor- 
entine with  his  silks,  the  Cat- 
alonian  with  his  leather,  the 
burgher  of  Ghent  with  his 
cloth,  and  traders  from  the  far 
east  met  in  the  open  markets 
of  the  then  known  world. 
The  picturesque  has  been 
steadily  on  the  wane ;  one 
A  must  go  to  the  Volga  now  to 

find  such  variety  of  costume, 
color  and  type,  such  quaint  effects  as  the 
artist  loves,  or  seek  them  out  by  long 
pilgrimages  in  their 
separate  homes. 
The  Midway  Plais- 
ance  ?  But  this  is 
only  an  accessory, 
with  its  resurrec- 
tions of  a  buried 
past,  its  remnants 
of  barbarism  col- 
lected from  remote 
corners  to  satisfy  a 
world's  curiosity — 
it  is  not  the  Fair. 
A  distinguished 
French  artist  la- 
mented to  me  this 
absence  of  the  strik- 
ing, the  piquant; 
and  another  visitor, 


\ 


LAST  IMPRESSIONS. 


SAMOAN    WAKRIOR. 


a  rich  merchant  from  Calcutta,  found  the 
Columbian   guard    a  poor  substitute  for 
the  imperial  escort  which  galloped  in  gay 
attire  in  1867  along  the  Cours  de  la  Reine. 
But  on   second   thought  we  remember 
that  these  figures  of  the  past,  picturesque 
in  themselves,  are  chiefly  so  by  contrast. 
The  Roman  noble  on  his  seat  in  the  circus 
maximus,  the  Turkish  Pasha  in  the  ba- 
zaar, the  mediaeval  knight  mean  the  glad- 
iator in  the   arena,  the  Circassian   slave 
in  the  market,  and  the  serf  toiling  in  the 
field  whose  fruits  are  not  his  own.     Uni- 
formity of  aspect 
is  the  sign  of  un- 
iformity of  con- 
dition.      Differ- 
ence in  dress  is 
difference  in  de- 
gree.     The   pa- 
geantry of  the 
past  means  the 
war  of  race  and 
condition,    and 
all   this   monot- 
ony is  the  outward  symbol  of  a  larger 
freedom,    a  richer  ownership,    a   higher 
level   of  comfort  and  happiness,  a  juster 
partition  of  the  world.    WTise  men  may  de- 
bate the  question  whether  the  individual 
man  is  capable  today,  either  by  reason  of 
the  change  in   himself    or 
his  condition,   of  a  greater 
happiness  than  in  the  days 
when    slaves   were    sold   in 
Sturbridge  fair.     Let  them 
wrangle !      One    glance    at 
this    orderly    commonplace 
crowd  is  proof  that  an  im- 
measurably greater  number 
than    ever  before  attain  the 
maximum    1  i  f e    can    offer. 
How  uneven    the   distribu- 
tion used  to  be  !     How  un- 
even it  is  now  !      But  who 
of  us  would  go  back  twenty, 
ten,  five  centuries,  a  single 
century,   to  take  his  birth 
chances  over  again  ?     The 
closer    one    observes    this 
commonplace    crowd   the 
more    hitherto    uncommon 
characteristics   of  great  \ 
throngs    one  discovers.     It 
is  orderly  and  well  behaved, 
tractable  yet  independent;  a 
trifle  sceptical,  but  appreci-  FROM  DAHOMEY 


ative,  with  a  kindly 
courtesy  and  camar- 
aderie in  which  so- 
cial distinctions  are 
gently  but  firmly  set 
aside.  An  English 
visitor  whose  con- 
ceptions of  the  New 
World  were  largely 
derived  from  the  < 
head-lines  of  a  press  - 
which  prides  itself 
upon  its  educational 

function,  told  me  that  he  was  at  a  loss  to 
know  where  all  the  wicked  people  referred 
to  in  those  head-lines  were  concealed. 
Some  of  them  doubtless  were  scattered 
through  the  throng,  and  society  was  there 
too;  but  whatonesawwastheaverage  man. 
Never  before  has  that  abstraction  been  so 
in  evidence,  and  we  were  all  surprised  and 
gladdened  to  find  the  average  so  high, 
content  to  form  a  part  of  it,  less  disposed 
to  put  our  faith  in  the  saving  power  of 
minorities  and  more  than  ever  disposed 
to  wonder  what  manner  of  man  it  was 
who  wrote  that  incomprehensible  line 
"and  nought  but  man  is  vile." 

As  to  my  Calcutta  merchant  who 
laments  the  absence  of  the  pomp  of 
war,  I  agree  with  him  —  sotto  voce  ! 
I  confess  to  the  lust  of  the 
eye,  and  many  ancestors 
have  made  me  heir  to  the 
love  of  glor}\  Doubtless, 
in  time,  when  frontiers  have 
been  abolished,  the  iove  of 
fatherland  will  lose  itself 
in  a  larger  love  for  the  con- 
federation of  the  world. 
Meanwhile,  a  martial 
strain,  a  fluttering  flag,  the 
tramp  of  feet  in  unison, 
warms  that  drop  of  black 
blood  inherited  from  men 
who  stood  shoulder  to 
shoulder  at  some  Thermop- 
ylae of  the  remote  past, 
when  there  was  something 
to  be  defended  or  secured. 
Yet  think,  again,  what  this 
absence  of  militar}-  pomp 
means  :  the  reign  of  law 
instead  of  war  ;  what  it 
promises  of  peace,  of  sinew 
for  industry  instead  of  for 
murder!  For  there  was  a 


LAST  IMPRESSIONS. 


199 


time  when  hostilities  were 
suspended  only  on  holy 
days,  and  the  fairs  of 
Christendom  were  ap- 
pointed on  these  festivals 
that  thus  everyone  might 
pass  in  safety  to  and  fro 
with  his  goods. 

With  his  ' '  goods. ' '  The 
word  suggests  a  bit  of  ety- 
mology :  Fair,  foire,  for- 
um,— that  is,  market-place.  For  the  fairs 
in  that  background  of  time  which  lies  be- 
hind our  goddess  of  the  fountain  were  de- 
voted to  trade.  Barter  and  gain  were  their 
very  soul,  profit  and  loss  their  alpha  and 
omega.  How  many  of  those  who  gath- 
ered at  their  booths  were  bettered  for 
their  visit  ?  If  the  question  be  a  profitless 
one,  note  at  least  the  reversal  of  the  con- 
ditions. What  was  there  the  incidental 


A   JAVANESE   HOME. 


A   MORNING    BATH. 

is  here  the  essential  gain.  The  lamp  of 
Use  burns  side  by  side  with  the  lamp  of 
Beaut}- :  but  we  have  come  to  see,  not  to 
buy.  The  world  of  art  and  industry  has 
been  brought  to  our  door  ;  but  the  Liberal 
Arts  building  is  an  evolution  from  the 
primitive  booth  so  radically  different  that 
its  prototj-pe  is  forgotten.  In  it  we  are 
no  more  in  a  "  shop  "  than  we  are  in  the 
Fine  Arts  building.  All  this  is  a  record 
of  progress,  a  museum,  a  school  of  in- 
struction, a  world's  Exchange  of  ideas, 
not  a  bazaar.  Finer  threads  than  those 
of  profit  and  loss  run  through  this  fabric 
of  beauty  which  has  been  unrolled  like  a 
scroll  before  our  eyes.  All  the  lower  aims 
of  personal  aggrandizement  and  self-in- 
terest are  lost  to  view  in  the  vast  sugges- 


tion of  the  progress  of  the 
race  and  the  amelioration 
of  the  lot  of  mankind. 
We  are  here  to  observe, 
compare,  wonder,  and  we 
go  away  with  wider  hori- 
zons, larger  conceptions, 
and  lives  made  sweeter 
and  richer  for  this  vision 
of  things  that  work  to- 
gether for  a  common  good. 
The  sage  was  right  who  declared  that  there 
is  no  royal  road  to  learning ;  but  mere 
learning  is  not  all,  and  this  great  object 
lesson  of  what  men  have  felt  and  thought 
and  wrought  is  worth  years  of  poring 
over  manuscripts  and  solitary  study  in 
the  closet  and  school. 

We  have  not  all  attended  the  great  con- 
gresses. Their  number  is  terrifying  !  — 
the  Press,  Temperance,  Music,  Literature, 
Education,  Engineering,  Art,  Political 
Science,  Labor,  Religion,  Agriculture, 
Medicine,  Woman's  Progress,  and  the 
rest.  It  is  not  easy  to  forecast  their  speci  fie 
results ;  but  we  know  the  bringing  together 
of  men  is  more  than  the  bringing  together 
of  things.  In  these  contacts  are  formed 
the  circuits  which  constitute  the  cur- 
rents of  progress.  We  are  sure  of  the 
good  harvest  to  come  from  these  forces  of 
the  seeds  of  thought  sown  in  this  summer 
of  the  world's  history.  This  is  the  age 
of  cooperation.  The  guilds  of  mediaeval 
trade  have  their  analogues  in  every  de- 
partment of  mental  and  social  activity. 
The  days  of  a  Peter  the  Hermit  are  gone 
by.  Organization  is  more  powerful  than 
personality,  and  leadership  has  passed 
from  the  hands  of  the  few  into  the  hearts 
of  the  many. 

Men  generally  build  better  or  worse  than 
they  know.  I,  for  one,  wish  to  testify  to 
my  admiration  for  the  conception  of  the 
Fair,  my  amazement  at  its  realization. 
The  dominant  feel- 
ing as  I  go  is  one 
of  gratitude.  Hon- 
or to  whom  honor 
is  due.  Our  west- 
ern city  has  given 
us  the  fr agile 
beauty  of  a  perfect 
flower,  but  has  also 
wrought  into  it  the 
strength  and  vigor 
of  its  virgin  soil.  A  CINGALF.SE. 


2OO 


SILENCE  AND  LOVE. 


FROM     SAMOA. 


It  is  a  dream  ;  but, 
ah  !  the  reality  of  it ! 
The  past  has  been 
plundered  to  give  us 
the  Court  of  Honor, 
but  the  informing 
spirit  is  the  spirit  of 
today.  We  see  the 
past  there,  but  we 
feel  the  future. 


Many  a  day  we  shall  float  again  on  the 
waters  of  its  lagoon.  Many  a  night  we 
shall  see  its  myriad  lights  and  hear  the 
splashing  of  its  fountains.  And  all  this 
might  have  been  only  the  gardens  of 
Calypso,  a  Watteau  picture,  and  our  god- 
dess a  Circe  weaving  a  spell.  It  is  not  so 
— it  is  not  so  !  Her  spell  is  the  spell  of 
a  serious  purpose,  of  a  mighty  promise, 
and  her  thought  is  set  on  vast  designs. 


JAVANESE:  DANCE. 


SILENCE    AND    LOVE. 


BY  VIRGINIA  WOODWARD  CLOUD. 

THEY  two,  untried,  together  met, 

When  the  world  wras  young. 
There  was  not  wan  wild  weather  yet, 

Nor  word  of  tongue ; 
Naught  to  remember  or  forget, 
And  Dawn's  first  censor  swung. 

But  Love,  in  language  without  name, 

Spake:    "That  I  reach 
Far  lands  and  near  of  frost  and  flame, 

I  pray  you  teach 

One  thing  to  me,  who  straightway  came 
From  Pain  and  Joy, — their  speech  !  " 

Then  Silence,  looking  far  away 

Across  that  land 
Dimmed  by  the  dew  of  its  first  day, 

An  untrod  strand, — 
Upon  her  lips  a  finger  lay, 
And,  smiling,  took  Love's  hand. 


THE    FINANCES    OF    THE 
EXPOSITION. 

BY  LYMAN  J.  GAGE. 

IF  readers  of  The  Cosmopolitan 
have  been  interested  in  its 
graphic  illustrations  and  verbal 
descriptions  of  the  glories  of  the 
World's  Columbian  Exposition, 
they  ma}-  be  curious  to  know 
something  of  the  financial  power 
which  produced  the  White  City 
with  the  multiplied  marvels  there 
displayed.  It  is  true  that,  to 
many,  suggestions  of  finance,  as 
related  to  things  in  their  creation 
or  protection,  are  infinitely  tire- 
some. Budgets  of  estimated  revenue  and 
probable  expenditure  have,  indeed,  little 
charm;  but  in  the  story  of  the  exposition 
the  chapter  of  its  financial  histor}^  has  in 
it  some  elements  of  the  dramatic,  not  less 
interesting  than  the  record  of  created 
forms,  whose  ultimate  foundation  was  the 
treasury  of  the  exposition. 

It  was  in  the  fall  months  of  1889  that 
the  movement  for  an  international  exhi- 
bition in  commemoration  of  the  discovery 
of  America  took  some  tangible  form.  A 
bill  was  introduced  into  the  House  of 
Representatives  at  Washington, 
providing  for  such  an  event  to 

be  held  in  the  city  of 

in  the  3'ear   1892.      The 

bill  contained  a  clause  provid- 
ing that  said  city  of 

....  (thereaft- 
er to  be  named) 
should  provide 
a  suitable  site, 
and  the  sum  of 
five  million 
dollars  for  the 
work  of  pre- 
paring build- 
ings, etc.  Four 
aspirants  im- 
mediately ap- 
peared, each 
determined  to 
win  the  dis- 
tinction of 
having  the 


blank  filled  with  its  name. 
Washington,  St.  Louis, 
New  York  and  Chicagowere 
the  four  contestants.  After 
a  hotly  contested  debate  and  canvass  in  the 
House,  the  honor  finally  rested  with  Chica- 
go, and  the  bill,  with  the  blank  thus  filled, 
was  referred  to  a  special  committee  for  its 
fuller  consideration  and  report.  Pending 
the  action  of  congress  the  promoting 
committee  in  Chicago  had  been  diligently 
engaged  in  obtaining  subscriptions  to  the 
capital  stock  of  the  "  World's  Columbian 
Exposition,"  which  it  was  proposed  to 
incorporate  under  the  laws  of  Illinois  for 
the  purpose  of  carrying  forward  the  duties 
to  be  imposed  by  the  act  of  congress.  By 
the  loth  of  March,  1890,  the  subscription  of 
five  million  dollars  was  fully  secured.  The 
work  of  obtaining  the  great  pledge  was 
enormous.  The  names  of  nearly  30,000  per- 
sons, firms  and  corporations  were  upon  the 
books  as  subscribers  to  the  stock.  The 
subscriptions  varied  from  one  share  of  $10, 
to  15,000  shares  or  $150,000,  the  last  being 
the  largest  single  subscription. 

When  the  House  committee  met  to 
consider  the  subject  matter  of  the  bill, 
their  attention  was  called  to  statements 
defaming  Chicago  and  its  "pledge  of 
five  million  dollars."  It  was  charged 
in  the  press  that  the  "pledge"  was 
nothing  but  "wind;"  that  the  alleged 
subscriptions  to  the  capital  stock  of 
the  Illinois  corporation  were  bogus  and 
unreal.  Members  of  the  committee  were 


2O2 


THE  FINANCES  OF  THE  EXPOSITION. 


warned  that  it  was  a  pure  waste  of  time 
to  treat  the  Chicago  pledge  as  anything 
more  serious  than  a  joke.  It  was  also 
impressed  upon  the  minds  of  members 
that  five  millions  were  quite  inadequate 
for  the  purpose ;  that  the  bill  ought  to  be 
so  amended  as  to  make  the  location  con- 
ditioned upon  ten  millions  being  provided 
instead  of  five.  They  were  assured  that 
New  York  could  and  easily  would  provide 
ten  millions,  while  it  would  be  impossible 
for  Chicago  to  do  more  than  it  had  done, 
even  if  its  pledges  for  the  five  millions 
could  be  seriously  considered  as  of  any 
value.  Confused  and  embarrassed  by 
these  voices,  the  House  committee  called 
upon  Chicago  to  produce  evidence  of  its 
having  secured  the  five  millions  contem- 
plated in  the  act,  and  when  this  evidence, 
ample  and  convincing,  was  furnished,  we 
were  told  that  the  committee  were  deter- 
mined to  report  back  the  bill  with  the 
conditional  amount  raised  to  ten  millions. 
Chicago  was  thus  obliged  either  to  sur- 
render the  prize  it  had  considered  so 
fairly  won,  or  assume  an  obligation  of 
twice  the  magnitude  of  that  ' '  nom- 
inated in  the  bond. ' '  It  did  not  long 
hesitate.  A  committee  of  its  citizens, 
then  in  Washington,  replied  :  "We 
will  meet  the  new  conditions.  Amend 
your  act."  The  bill,  so  amended, 
was  adopted  by  both  houses 
of  congress  and  became  a  law 
April  25,  1890. 

Had  it  then  been  known  that 
before  the  close  of  that  year,  all 
Europe  would  be 


in  the  throes  of  a  financial  crisis,  the  influ- 
ence of  which  was  to  be  severely  felt  upon 
our  own  shore,  even  western  pluck  and 
courage  would  have  quailed  before  such 
an  undertaking.  But,  happily,  the  future 
is  hidden  from  our  view.  The  financial 
leaders  saw  but  one  practical  way  to 
meet  the  new  requirement.  In  securing 
voluntary  contributions  of  five  millions 
of  dollars  to  an  enterprise  which  could 
never  be  expected  to  return  more  than  a 
small  part  to  the  contributors,  the  field  of 
individual  action  had  been  practically  ex- 
hausted. But  the  municipality,  the  city 
of  Chicago,  had  as  yet  done  nothing.  It 


was  solicited  to  advance  five  millions  in 
the  form  of  bonds  to  the  corporation,  upon 
an  agreement  of  the  latter  to  repay  to  it 
the  same  percentage  it  might  ultimately 
pay  to  its  immediate  stockholders.  The 
proposition  was  acceptable  enough,  but 
two  important  constitutional  prohibitions 
rendered  an  acceptance  of  the  proposal 
impossible.  The  first  prohibition  re- 
strained the  rity  from  advancing 
its  money  or  credit  to  any  private 
enterprise,  and  in  every  legal  sense 
the  exposition  company  was  such 
an  enterprise.  The  second  prohibi- 
tion limited  the  amount  of  debt 
which  the  city  could  incur,  and  it 
had  already  reached  the  limit. 
The  constitution  of  the  state 
provides  the  method  b}'  which 
it  may  be 
amended. 
Brieflv  stated, 


THE  FINANCES  OF  THE  EXPOSITION. 


it  requires  the  proposed  .  amendment  to 
pass  both  houses  of  the  general  assembly 
and  afterwards  to  be  submitted  to  the  peo- 
ple at  the  next  general  election,  when,  if 
approved  by  a  two-thirds  vote,  it  becomes 
operative. 

The  general  assembly  of  Illinois  meets 
but  once  in  two  years.  Unfortunately, 
its  regular  session  had  but  recently  ad- 
journed. It  was  determined  if  possible, 
to  get  an  extra  session  convened,  and 
secure  the  necessary  amendments  to  the 


LO   LIKES  SODA  WATER. 

original  law.  Happily,  the  governor  of  the 
State  was  in  symprthy  with  the  exposi- 
tion idea.  The  general  assembly  was 
convened  by  him  in  the  month  of  Aug- 
ust ;  the  desired  legislation  was  prompt- 
ly had,  and  in  the  November  following, 
the  amendments  were  adopted  by  the 
people  of  the  State  in  a  nearly  unanimous 
vote.  Appropriate  action  by 
the  Chicago  common  council 
soon  followed,  and  notwith- 
standing the  unfavorable  cdn- 
dition  of  the  money  market,  the 
desired  five  millions  was  cov- 
ered into  the  exposition  treas- 
ury in  the  earl 3- months  of  1891. 
The  long  months  of  waiting 
on  the  experiment,  which  re- 
sulted so  favorably,  were  not 
months  of  idleness.  While  it 
could  not  be  safely  assumed 
that  the  hoped  for  end  would 
be  certainly  reached  through 
the  devious  paths  of  legislative 
action,  it  was,  on  the  other 
hand,  clearly  to  be  seen  that 
any  delay  in  the  work  of  con- 
struction would  be  fatal  to  the 
enterprise.  The  infant  corpor- 
ation was  perfected,  and  a  board 


of  forty-five  di- 
rectors with  ap- 
propriate offic- 
ers chosen.  A 
call  was  at  once 
made  upon  the 
subscribers  for 
cash  payments 
on  their  shares. 
A  staff  of  archi- 
tects was  select- 
ed, plans  adopt- 
ed, contracts  let,  and  the  work  in  all  its 
departments  vigorously  begun.  But  by 
this  time  new  and  larger  light  had  come. 
The  "scope  and  plan"  of  the  exposi- 
tion had  now  been  substantially  deter- 
mined by  the  United  States  commission, 
to  which  body,  under  the  act  of  congress 
this  duty  was  specifically  delegated.  New 
and  more  reliable  estimates  of  cost  were 
possible,  and  it  was  soon  perceived  that 
if  the  magnitude  and  nobility  of  the 
scheme  were  to  be  maintained,  the  ten 
millions  would  be  entirely  inadequate  to 
carry  it  out.  Seventeen  millions  would 
be  required.  The  directory  were  in  a 
quandary.  While  they  recognized  the 
fact  that  they  were,  technically  speaking, 


GOING    HOMR. 


204 


THE  FINANCES  OF  THE  EXPOSITION. 


il 


merely  the 
agents  of  the 
shareholders  in 
carrying  out  a 
contract  (the 
act  of  congress) 
requiring  on 
their  part  the 
expenditure  of 
ten  millions 
only,  they  rec- 
ognized also, 
that  in  a  broad 
sense,  they 
were  trustees 
for  the  honor  of 
our  country,  in 
whose  name  ev- 
ery nation  had 
been  invited  to 
participate  in 
the  great  festi- 
val. To  expect  seven  millions  more  from 
Chicago,  however,  was  to  expect  the 
absurd  and  impossible.  It  was  finally 
determined,  that  when  every  condition 
of  a  financial  kind  imposed  by  the  act  of 
congress  had  been  fully  met,  the  Govern- 
ment should  be  appealed  to ;  the  facts 
fully  laid  before  it,  and  a  contribution 
from  the  public  treasury  asked,  to  the  ex- 
tent of  five  millions  upon  terms  and  con- 
ditions of  repayment,  similiar  to  those 
which  obtained  in  the  contribution  from 
the  city  of  Chicago.  It  was  not  believed 


FROM     MISSOURI. 


ESKIMO   SNAPPING   NICKELS   FROM    THE   GROUND. 


that  the  sixty-five  millions  of  people  com- 
posing our  republic  would  be  satisfied 
with  anything  less  than  the  noblest.  It 
was  believed  that  they  would  heartily  co- 
operate in  the  enormous  extra  cost  of 
producing  it.  This  is  not  the  place  to 
recite  in  detail  the  history  of  that  effort 
before  congress.  It  resulted  in  a  pure 
gift  (not  asked  for)  of  two  and  a  half 
millions  to  be  paid  in  a  special  silver  coin 
to  be  minted  for  that  purpose.  With  this 
amount  secured  to  the  Illinois  corporation 
there  still  remained  four  and  a  half  mill- 
ions to  be  provided.  From  where  were 
they  to  come.  Millions  are  easy  to  name  ; 
they  are  hard  to  get. 

Once  more  girding  its  loins  for  a  new* 
effort,  the  directory  authorized  the  issue 
of  five  millions  in  its  debenture  bonds, 
which  were  also  constituted  an  equitable 
lien  upon  all  its  property,  and  for  their 
payment  its  future  income  from  all 
sources  was  pledged.  By  their  terms  the 
bonds  were  made  payable  on  or  before 
January  i,  1894, — were  made  to  draw 
interest  at  six  per  centum,  and  contained 
a  condition  binding  the  diiectory  to  create 
no  debt  in  addition  to  the  bonds. 

Again  the  civic  pride  of  Chicago  was 
appealed  to  ;  nor  was  the  appeal  in  vain. 
Nearly  the  whole  amount — to  be  exact, 
$4,550,000 — was  in  due  time  taken  by  in- 
dividuals, financial  institutions  and  rail- 
road corporations,  the  managers  of  the 
latter  stretching  their  authority-  some- 
what, perhaps,  to 
meet  a  patriotic 
duty.  Seventeen 
millions  were  thus 
put  at  the  sei  vice  of 
the  directory;  but 
again  the  enterprise 
outgrew  the  fund 
provided.  The  de- 
mand for  larger 
space  and  special 
buildings  for  educa- 
tion, for  art,  and 
other  objects  of  spec- 
ial interest  never 
ceased.  In  addition, 
the  winter  months 
of  1 892  and  1893  were 
of  almost  unprece- 
dented severit}-, 
work  was  slowly  ex- 
ecuted and  accom- 


THE  FINANCES  OF  THE  EXPOSITION. 


205 


plished  at  double  cost.  In 
spite  of  all  efforts  to  econ- 
omize, the  expenditure 
steadily  grew,  until  the 
seventeen  millions  esti- 
mate were  submerged  in 
twenty  millions  of  actual 
expenditure. 

The  sum  of  $20,000,000 
may,  then,  be  received  as 
the  fair  approximate  cost 
of  producing  the  exposi- 
tion, complete  in  all  its 
parts.  It  may  here  be 
added  that  the  contribu- 
tion from  the  Government 
was  not  fully  realized.  By 
a  subsequent  act,  which  in  any  of  the 
ordinary  relations  of  life  would  be  charac 
terized  as  an  act  of  bad  faith,  $570,880  was 
withheld  and  never  paid.  It  may  help  the 
reader  if  we  summarize  the  matter  in  a 
condensed  form. 

The  cost  of  producing  the  exposition, 


THE  COLUMBIAN  GUARD. 

as  before  stated,  was  $20,000,000.  The 
sources  from  which  the  funds  for  its  crea- 
tion were  drawn  may  be  stated  thus  : 

From  subscriptions  to  capital  stock... $  5,600,000 

"      municipality  of  Chicago 5,000,000 

"      donated  by  congress 1,929.120 

premiums  on  coins  sold  as  sou- 
venirs    500  ooo 

"      debenture  bonds 4,550,000 

"      interest  and  miscell'n's  sources,  450,000 

Floating  liabilities   May  I,  1893 1,970  880 


At  this  writing  a  little 
more  than  five  months  of 
the  exposition  period  has 
passed.  The  net  revenues 
have  enabled  the  manage- 
ment  to  discharge  the 
large  floating  debt  and  pay 
off  the  last  dollar,  princi- 
pal and  interest,  of  its  ob- 
ligations represented  by 
its  debenture  bonds.  Such 
further  revenue  as  may 
yet  be  realized  will  form 
a  fund  to  pay  the  cost  of 
closing  its  affairs.  The 
unexpended  remainder 
will  belong  to  its  stock- 
holders and  to  the  city  of  Chicago. 

One  fact  in  the  financial  history  of  the 
enterprise  is  especially  worthy  of  mention. 
The  subscriptions  to  the  capital  stock  ag- 
gregated $6,073,850.  The  subscribers  were 
not  persons  carefully  chosen  because  of 
their  moral  worth  or  financial  respon- 
sibility. Whosoever  would  might  come, 
and  subscribe  without  limit.  More  than 
30,000  persons  did  subscribe.  In  such  a 
list,  it  well  might  be  anticipated  that  the 
test  of  payment  would  reveal  an  enormous 
delinquency.  What  is  the  fact?  This, 
viz.  :  $5,600,727.60  has  actually  been  col- 
lected, showing,  if  nothing  more  is  paid, 
the  loss  on  the  entire  list  to  be  7.8  per 
cent.  Many  prosperous  and  able  mer- 
chants and  manufacturers  would  pay  an 
equal  percentage  for  a  guarantee  of  their 
carefully  selected  credits,  outstanding  at 
any  one  period  of  time. 

The  foregoing 
statements  relate  ex- 
clusively to  the  fin- 
ances of  the  Illinois 
corporation  in  its 
work  of  preparation. 
They  do  not  include 
expenditures  made 
by  the  United  States 
Government  for  its 
own  building,  nor  for 
the  expenses  of  its 
particular  agents,  the 
World's  Columbian 
commission  and  the 
Board  of  Lady  Man- 
agers; nor  does  it  in- 
clude the  cost  of  spe- 
rial  buildings  by 


206 


UPON   THE  BRIDGE. 


other  nations  and  the  individual  states 
of  our  Union.  It  may  be  instructive  to 
consolidate  the  whole  and  get  an  approx- 
imate total  cost  of  all  that  the  eye  now 
sees  within  the  confines  of  the  White 
City,  exclusive  of  the  goods  and  wares  on 
exhibition  : 

Expended  by  the  Illinois  corporation.  .$20,000,000 
"  "  U.  S.  Government. . . .  2,250,000 
"  "  foreign  governments  6,000,000 
"  "  several  states 7,000,000 

$55,250,000 

To  this  grand  total  of  thirty-five  millions 
may  be  added  the  expenses  of  private  ex- 
hibitors and  of  those  on  Midway 
Plaisance  and  other  points,  who 
have  catered    to  the  tastes   of 
visitors. 


The  limit  of  space  allowed  to  this  article 
is  nearly  exhausted,  and  no  more  worthy 
use  can  be  made  of  what  remains  than  to 
recognize  the  zeal,  courage  and  patience 
which  have  marked  the  people  of  Chicago 
from  the  conception  of  the  great  enter- 
prise. Their  loyal  faith  in  the  directory 
inspired  the  latter  with  confidence  and 
vigor.  This  unity  in  a  single  purpose, 
this  common  devotion  to  a  great  idea,  is 
in  itself  sublime.  The  moral  value  to 
Chicago  of  this  achievement  of  its  people 
outweighs  any  material  gain.  Or,  if  we 
find  financial  sacrifice  and  loss  to  be 
the  outcome,  the  wise  man  who  sees  far 
will  find  in  the  moral  and 
social  uplift  thus  obtained 
more  than  an  abundant  rec- 


UPON    THE    BRIDGE. 

BY  JULIE  M.  LIPPMANN. 

BETWEEN  two  vasts  of  river  and  of  sky, 
Right  perilously  poised  in  tipper  air, 
We,  a  most  motley  throng,  made  bold  to  fare 

Upon  a  bridgeway,  arching  free  and  high 

From  shore  to  shore.     Strangers,  we  stood  so  nigh 
One  to  the  next,  within  our  bounder  spare, 
Our  garments  touched.     Nathless  our  souls  had  share 

In  no  such  comradeship.     .     .     .     The  world  knows  why. 

A  common  girl  stood  next  me.     It  appears 

She  must  have  hugged,   unseen,  some  sharp-toothed  woe, 

That  bit  her  breast  and  fierce  clutched  at  her  heart, 
For  she,  a-sudden,  wept — just  common  tears. 
But,  as  they  fell,  I  bent  my  forehead  low 
To  bear  the  baptism  they  did  impart. 


TRAVELLING  WITH  A  REFORMER. 


BY  MARK  TWAIN. 


LAST  spring  I  went  out  to  Chicago  to 
see  the  Fair,  and  although  I  did  not 
see  it  my  trip  was  not  wholly  lost — there 
were  compensations.  In  New  York  I  was 
introduced  to  a  major  in  the  regular  army 
who  said  he  was  going  to  the  Fair,  and 
we  agreed  to  go  together.  I  had  to  go  to 
Boston  first,  but  that  did  not  interfere;  he 
said  he  would  go  along,  and  put  in  the 
time.  He  was  a  handsome  man  and  built 
like  a  gladiator.  But  his  ways  were  gen- 
tle and  his  speech  was  soft  and  persua- 
sive. He  was  companionable  but  exceed- 
ingly icposeful.  Yes,  and  wholly  desti- 
tute of  the  sense  of  humor.  He  was  full 
of  interest  in  everything  that  went  on 
around  him,  but  his  serenity  was  inde- 
structible; nothing  disturbed  him,  no- 
thing excited  him. 

But  before  the  day  was  done  I  found 
that  deep  down  in  him  somewhere  he  had 


a  passion,  quiet  as  he  was — a  passion  for 
reforming  petty  public  abuses.  He  stood 
for  citizenship — it  was  his  hcfbby.  His 
idea  was  that  every  citizen  of  the  republic 
ought  to  consider  himself  an  unofficial 
policeman  and  keep  unsalaried  watch  and 
ward  over  the  laws  and  their  execution. 
He  thought  that  the  only  effective  way  of 
preserving  and  protecting  public  rights 
was  for  each  citizen  to  do  his  share  in 
preventing  or  punishing  such  infringe- 
ments of  them  as  came  under  his  personal 
notice. 

It  was  a  good  scheme,  but  I  thought  it 
would  keep  a  body  in  trouble  all  the  time; 
it  seemed  to  me  that  one  would  be  always 
trying  to  get  oflfencLng  little  officials  dis- 
charged, and  perhaps  getting  laughed  at 
for  all  reward.  But  he  said  no,  I  had  the 
wrong  idea;  that  there  was  no  occasion 
to  get  anybody  discharged:  that  in  fact 


208 


TRAVELLING    WITH  A   REFORMER. 


you  mustn't  get  anybody  discharged;  that 
that  would  itself  be  failure;  no,  one  must 
reform  the  man — reform  him  and  make 
him  useful  where  he  was. 

"  Must  one  report  the  offender  and  then 
beg  his  superior  not  to  discharge  him, 
but  reprimand  him  and  keep  him  ?  " 

11  No,  that  is  not  the  idea  ;  you  don't 
report  him  at  all,  for  then  you  risk  his 
bread  and  butter.  You  can  act  as  if  you 
are  going  to  report  him — when  nothing 
else  will  answer.  But  that's  an  extreme 
case.  That  is  a  sort  of  force,  and  force  is 
bad.  Diplomacy  is  the  effective  thing. 
Now  if  a  man  has  tact — if  a  man  will  ex- 
ercise diplomacy — " 

For  two  minutes  we  had  been  standing 
at  a  telegraph  wicket,  and  during  all  this 
time  the  major  had  been  trying  to  get  the 
attention  of  one  of  the  young  operators, 
but  they  were  all  busy  skylarking.  The 
major  spoke,  now,  and  asked  one  of  them 
to  take  his  telegram.  He  got  for  reply  : 

"  I  reckon  you  can  wait  a  minute,  can't 


"HE   ALWAYS    HAS    A    S1STEH    OR    A    MOTHER. 
OR    WIFE   TO   SUPPORT." 


you?"    and    the    skylarking   went    on. 
The  major  said  yes,   he  was  not  in  a 
hurry.     Then  he  wrote  another  telegram  : 
"  President  Western  Union  Tel.  Co. : 

"  Come  and  dine  with  me  this  evening. 
I  can  tell  you  how  business  is  conducted 
in  one  of  your  branches." 

Presently  the  young  fellow  who  had 
spoken  so  pertly  a  little  before  reached 
out  and  took  the  telegram,  and  when  he 
read  it  he  lost  color  and  began  to  apolo- 
gize and  explain.  He  said  he  would  lose 
his  place  if  this  deadly  telegram  was  sent, 
and  he  might  never  get  another.  If  he 
could  be  let  off  this  time  he  would  give  no 
cause  of  complaint  again.  The  compro- 
mise was  accepted. 

As  we  walked  away,  the  major  said  : 
"  Now,  you  see,  that  was  diplomacy — 
and  you  see  how  it  worked.  It  wouldn't 
do  an}7  good  to  bluster,  the  way  people 
are  always  doing  —  that  boy  can  always 
give  you  as  good  as  you  send,  and  you'll 
come  out  defeated  and  ashamed  of  your- 
self pretty  nearly  always. 
But  you  see  he  stands  no 
chance  against  diplomacy. 
Gentle  words  and  diplomacy 
— those  are  the  tools  to  work 
with." 

"  Yes,  I  see;  but  everybody 
wouldn't  have  had  your  op- 
portunity. It  isn't  every- 
body that  is  on  those  familiar 
terms  with  the  president  of 
the  Western  Union." 

"Oh,  you  misunderstand. 
I  don't  know  the  president 
— I  only  use  him  diplomatic- 
ally. It  is  for  his  good  and 
for  the  public  good.  There's 
no  harm  in  it." 

I  said,  with  hesitation  and  diffidence  : 
"  But  is  it  ever  right  or  noble  to  tell  a 
lie?" 

He  took  no  note  of  the  delicate  self- 
righteousness  of  the  question,  but  an- 
swered with  undisturbed  gravity  and  sim- 
plicity : 

"  Yes,  sometimes.  Lies  told  to  injure  a 
person,  and  lies  told  to  profit  yourself  are 
not  justifiable,  but  lies  told  to  help  an- 
other person,  and  lies  told  in  the  public 
interest — oh,  well,  that  is  quite  another 
matter.  Anybody  knows  that.  But  never 
mind  about  the  methods  :  you  see  the  re- 
sult. That  yoiith  is  going  to  be  useful 


TRAVELLING    WITH  A   REFORMER 


now,  and  we'  l-behaved.  He  had  a  good 
face.  He  was  worth  saving.  Why,  he 
was  worth  saving  on  his  mother's  account 
if  not  his  own.  Of  course,  he  has  a 
mother— sisters,  too.  Damn  these  peo- 
ple who  are  always  forgetting  that !  Do 
you  know,  I've  never  fought  a  duel  in  my 
life — never  once — and  yet  have  been  chal- 
lenged, like  other  people.  I  could  always 
see  the  other  man's  unoffending  women 
folks  or  his  little  children  standing  be- 
tween him  and  me.  They  hadn't  done 
anything — I  couldn't  break  their  hearts, 
you  know." 

He  corrected  a  good  mary  little  abuses 
in  the  course  of  the  day,  and  always  with- 
out friction  ;  always  with  a  fine  and  dainty 
"  diplomacy  "  which  left  no  sting  behind  ; 
and  he  got  such  happiness  and  such  con- 
tentment out  of  these  performances  that 
I  was  obliged  to  envy  him  his  trade — and 
perhaps  would  have  adopted  it  if  I  could 
have  managed  the  necessary  deflections 
from  fact  as  confidently  with  my  mouth 
as  I  believe  I  could  with  a  pen,  behind 
the  shelter  of  print,  after  a  little  practice. 

Away  late,  that  night,  we  were  coming 
up  town  in  a  horse-car,  when  three  bois- 
terous roughs  got  aboard  and  began  to 
fling  hilarious  obscenities  and  profanities 
right  and  left  among  the  timid  passen- 
gers, some  of  whom  were  women  and 
children.  Nobody  resisted  or  retorted ; 
the  conductor  tried  soothing  words  and 
moral  suasion,  but  the  roughs  only  called 
him  names  and  laughed  at  him.  Very 
soon  I  saw  that  the  major  realized  that 
this  was  a  matter  which  was  in  his  line  ; 
evidently  he  was  turning  over  his  stock 
of  diplomacy  in  his  mind  and  getting 
ready.  I  felt  that  the  first  diplomatic  re- 
mark he  made  in  this  place  would  bring 
down  a  land-slide  of  ridicule  upon  him 
and  may  be  something  worse  ;  but  before 
I  could  whisper  to  him  and  check  him, 
he  had  begun,  and  it  was  too  late.  He 
said  in  a  level  and  dispassionate  tone  : 

«  Conductor,  you  must  put  these  swine 
out.  I  will  help  you." 

I  was  not  looking  for  that.  In  a  flash 
the  three  roughs  plunged  at  him.  But 
none  of  them  arrived.  He  delivered  three 
such  blows  as  one  could  not  expect  to  en- 
counter outside  the  prize  ring,  and  neither 
of  the  men  had  life  enough  left  in  him  to 
get  up  from  where  he  fell.  The  major 
dragged  them  out  and  threw  them  off 


"  HE  DELIVERED  THREE  SUCH  BLOWS  AS  ONE 
COULD  NOT  EXPECT  TO  ENCOUNTER  OUTSIDE  THE 
PRIZK  RING." 

the  car,    and   we  got  under  way  again. 

I  was  astonished  ;  astonished  to  see  a 
lamb  act  so;  astonished  at  the  strength 
displayed  and  the  clean  and  comprehen- 
sive result;  astonished  at  the  brisk  and 
business-like  style  of  the  whole  thing.  The 
situation  had  a  humorous  side  to  it,  con- 
sidering how  much  I  had  been  hearing 
about  mild  persuasion  and  gentle  diplo- 
macy all  day  from  this  pile-driver,  and  I 
would  have  liked  to  call  his  attention  to 
that  feature  and  do  some  sarcasms  about 
it ;  but  when  I  looked  at  him  I  saw  that  it 
would  be  of  no  use — his  placid  and  con- 
tented face  had  no  ray  of  humor  in  it  ; 
he  would  not  have  understood.  When 
we  left  the  car,  I  said  : 

"  That  was  a  good  stroke  of  diplomacy 
— three  good  strokes  of  diplomacy,  in 
fact." 

"That?  That  wasn't  diplomacy.  You 
are  quite  in  the  wrong.  Diplomacy  is  a 
wholly  different  thing.  One  cannot  apply 
it  to  that  sort,  they  would  not  understand 
it.  No,  that  was  not  diplomacy,  it  was 
force. ' ' 

"Now  that  you  mention  it,  I — yes,  I 
think  perhaps  you  are  right.'' 

"  Right  ?  Of  course  I  am  right.  It  was 
just  force." 

"  I  think,  myself,  it  had  the  outside 
aspect  of  it.  Do  you  often  have  to  reform 
people  in  that  way  ?  " 

'•  Far  from  it.  It  hardly  ever  happens. 
Not  oftener  than  once  in  half  a  year,  at 
the  outside. ' ' 

"  Those  men  will  get  well  ?  " 


TRA  VELLING    WITH  A   REFORMER. 


"Get  well?  Why  certainly  they  will. 
They  are  not  in  any  danger.  I  know  how 
to  hit  and  where  to  hit.  You  noticed  that 
I  did  not  hit  them  under  the  jaw.  That 
would  have  killed  them." 

I  believed  that.  I  remarked  —  rather 
wittily,  as  I  thought  —  that  he  had  been  a 
lamb  all  da)'  but  now  had  all  of  a  sudden 
developed  into  a  ram  —  battering  ram  ; 
but  with  dulcet  frankness  and  simplicity 
he  said  no,  a  battering  ram  was  quite  a 
different  thing  and  not  in  use  now.  This 
was  maddening,  and  I  came  near  burst- 
ing out  and  saying  he  had  no  more  ap- 
preciation of  wit  than  a  jackass — in  fact, 
I  had  it  right  on  my  tongue,  but  did  not 
say  it,  knowing  there  was  no  hurry  and 
I  could  say  it  just  as  well  some  other  time 
over  the  telephone. 

We  started  to  Boston  the  next  after- 
noon. The  smoking  compartment  in  the 
parlor  car  was  full  and  we  went  into  the 
regular  smoker.  Across  the  aisle  in  the 
front  seat  sat  a  meek  farmer-looking  old 
man  with  a  sickly  pallor  in  his  face,  and 
he  was  holding  the  door  open  with  his 
foot  to  get  the  air.  Presently  a  big  brake- 
man  came  rushing  through,  and  when  he 
got  to  the  door  he  stopped,  gave  the 
farmer  an  ugly  scowl,  then  wrenched  the 
door  to  with  such  energy  as  to  almost 
snatch  the  old  man's  boot  off.  Then  on 
he  plunged,  about  his  business.  Several 
passengers  laughed,  and  the  old  gentle- 
man looked  pathetically  shamed  and 
grieved. 

After  a  little  the  conductor  passed 
along  and  the  major  stopped  him  and 
asked  him  a  question  in  his  habitually 
courteous  way  : 

"  Conductor,  where  does  one  report  the 
misconduct  of  a  brakeman  ?  Does  one  re- 
port to  you  ?  ' ' 

1 '  You  can  report  him  at  New  Haven 
if  you  want  to.  What  has  he  been 
doing  ?  " 

The  major  told  the  story.  The  con- 
ductor seemed  amused.  He  said,  with 
just  a  touch  of  sarcasm  in  his  bland 
tones  : 

"  As  I  understand  you,  the  brakeman 
didn't  say  anything." 

"  No,  he  didn't  say  anything." 

"  But  he  scowled,  you  say." 

"Yes." 

1 '  And  snatched  the  door  loose  in  a 
rough  way." 


"  Yes." 

"  That's  the  whole  business,  is  it  ?  " 

"  Yes,  that  is  the  whole  of  it." 

The  conductor  smiled  pleasantly,  and 
said  : 

"Well,  if  you  want  to  report  him,  all 
right,  but  I  don't  quite  make  out  what 
it's  going  to  amount  to.  You'll  say — as  I 
understand  you — that  the  brakeman  in- 
sulted this  old  gentleman.  They'll  ask 
you  what  he  said.  You'll  say  he  didn't 
say  anything  at  all.  I  reckon  they'll  say, 
how  are  you  going  to  make  out  an  insult 
when  you  acknowledge  j-ourself  that  lie 
didn't  say  a  word." 

There  was  a  murmur  of  applause  at  the 
conductors  compact  reasoning,  and  it 
gave  him  pleasure — you  could  see  it  in 
his  face.  But  the  major  was  not  disturbed. 
He  said : 

1 '  There — now  you  have  touched  upon 
a  crying  defect  in  the  complaint-S3-stem. 
The  railway  officials — as  the  public  think 
and  as  }*ou  also  seem  to  think — are  not 
aware  that  there  are  any  kind  of  insults 
except  spoken  ones.  So  nobody  goes  to 


"  THE   OLD   GENTLEMAN    LOOKED    PATHETICALLY 
SHAMED    AND   GRIEVED." 


TRAVELLING    WITH  A    REFORMER. 


211 


headquarters  and  re- 
ports insults  of  man- 
ner, insults  of  gest- 
ure, look,  and  so 
forth;  and  yet  these 
are  sometimes  harder 
to  bear  than  any 
words.  They  are  bit- 
ter hard  to  bear  be- 
cause there  is  noth- 
ing tangible  to  take 
hold  of;  and  the  in- 
sultercan  alwayssay, 
if  called  before  the 
railway  officials,  that 
he  never  dreamed  of 
intending  any  of- 
fense. It  seems  to 
me  that  the  officials 
ought  to  specially 
and  urgently  request 
the  public  to  report 
unworded  affronts 
and  incivilities." 

The    conductor 
laughed,  and  said  : 

"  Well,  that  would  be  trimming  it  pretty 
fine,  sure!  " 

"  But  not  too  fine,  I  think.  I  will  re- 
port this  matter  at  New  Haven,  and  I 
have  an  idea  that  I'll  be  thanked  for  it." 

The  conductor's  face  lost  something  of 
its  complacency  ;  in  fact  it  settled  to  a 
quite  sober  cast  as  the  owner  of  it  moved 
away.  I  said  : 

1 '  Your  are  not  really  going  to  bother 
with  that  trifle  are  you  ?  " 

"  It  isn't  a  trifle.  Such  things  ought 
always  to  be  reported.  It  is  a  public  duty, 
and  no  citizen  has  a  right  to  shirk  it.  But 
I  shan't  have  to  report  this  case." 

"Why?" 

"It  won't  be  necessary.  Diplomacy 
will  do  the  business.  You'll  see." 

Presently  the  conductor  came  on  his 
rounds  again,  and  when  he  reached  the 
major  he  leaned  over  and  said: 

"  That's  all  right.  You  needn't  report 
him.  He's  responsible  to  me.  and  if  he 
does  it  again  I'll  give  him  a  talking  to." 

The  major's  response  was  cordial: 

"  Now  that  is  what  I  like!  You  mustn't 
think  that  I  was  moved  by  any  vengeful 
spirit,  for  that  wasn't  the  case.  It  was 
duty — just  a  sense  of  duty,  that  was  all. 
My  brother-in-law  is  one  of  the  directors 
of  the  road,  and  when  he  learns  that  you 


are  going  to  reason  with  your  brakeman 
the  very  next  time  he  brutally  insults  an 
unoffending  old  man  it  will  please  him, 
you  may  be  sure  of  that." 

The  conductor  did  not  look  as  joyous 
as  one  might  have  thought  he  would,  but 
on  the  contrary  looked  sickly  and  uncom- 
fortable. He  stood  around  a  little,  then 
said: 

"/^think  something  ought  to  be  done 
to  him  now.  I'll  discharge  him." 

"Discharge  him?  What  good  would 
that  do  ?  Don't  you  think  it  would  be 
better  wisdom  to  teach  him  better  ways 
and  keep  him  ?  " 

"Well,  there's  something  in  that. 
What  would  you  suggest  ?  ' ' 

"  He  insulted  the  old  gentleman  in 
presence  of  all  these  people,  how  would  it 
do  to  have  him  come  and  apologize  in 
their  presence  ?  ' ' 

"I'll  have  him  here  right  off.  And  I 
want  to  say  this:  If  people  would  do  as 
3'ou've  done,  and  report  such  things  to 
me  instead  of  keeping  mum  and  going  off 
and  blackguarding  the  road,  you'd  see  a 
different  state  of  things  pretty  soon.  I'm 
much  obliged  to  you." 

The  brakeman  came  and  apologized. 
After  he  was  gone  the  major  said: 

"  Now,  you  see  how  simple  and  easy 
that  was.  The  ordinary  citizen  would 


TRA  YELLING   WITH  A   REFORMER. 


have  accomplished  nothing — the  brother- 
in-law  of  a  director  can  accomplish  any- 
thing he  wants  to." 

' '  But  are  you  really  the  brother-in-law 
of  a  director  ?  ' ' 

"  Always.  Always  when  the  public  in- 
terests require  it.  I  have  a  brother-in- 
law  on  all  the  boards — everywhere.  It 
saves  me  a  world  of  trouble." 

"  It  is  a  good  wide  relationship." 

"Yes,  I  have  over  three  hundred  of 
them." 

"  Is  the  relationship  never  doubted  by 
a  conductor  ?  ' ' 

"  I  have  never  met  with  a  case.  It  is 
the  honest  truth — I  never  have. ' ' 

"  Why  didn't  you  let  him  go  ahead  and 
discharge  the  brakeman,  in  spite  of  your 
favorite  policy  ?  You  know  he  deserved 
it." 

The  major  answered  with  something 
which  really  had  a  sort  of  distant  resem- 
blance to  impatience : 

"  If  you  would  stop  and  think  a  mo- 
ment you  wouldn't  ask  such  a  question 
as  that.  Is  a  brakeman  a  dog,  that  no- 
thing but  dog's  methods  will  do  for  him? 
He  is  a  man,  and  has  a  man's  fight  for 
life.  And  he  always  has  a  sister,  or  a 
mother,  or  wife  and  children  to  support. 
Always — there  are  no  exceptions.  When 
you  take  his  living  away  from  him  you 
take  theirs  away  too — and  what  have  they 
done  to  you  ?  Nothing.  And  where  is 
the  profit  in  discharging  an  uncourteous 
brakeman  and  hiring  another  just  like 
him?  It's  unwisdom.  Don't  you  see 
that  the  rational  thing  to  do  is  to  reform 
the  brakeman  and  keep  him  ?  Of  course 
it  is." 

Then  he  quoted  with  admiration  the 
conduct  of  a  certain  division  superintend- 
ent of  the  Consolidated  road,  in  a  case 
where  a  switchman  of  two  years'  experi- 
ence was  negligent  once  and  threw  a  train 
off  the  track  and  killed  several  people. 
Citizens  came  in  a  passion  to  urge  the 
man's  dismissal,  but  the  superintendent 
said  : 

"  No,  you  are  wrong.  He  has  learned 
his  lesson,  he  will  throw  no  more  trains 
off  the  track.  He  is  twice  as  valuable  as 
he  was  before.  I  shall  keep  him." 

We  had  only  one  more  adventure  on 
the  trip.  Between  Hartford  and  Spring- 
field the  train-boy  came  shouting  in  with 
an  armful  of  literature  and  dropped  a 


sample  into  a  slumbering  gentleman's 
lap,  and  the  man  woke  up  with  a  start. 
He  was  very  angry,  and  he  and  a  couple 
of  friends  discussed  the  outrage  with 
much  heat.  They  sent  for  the  parlor-car 
conductor  and  described  the  matter,  and 
were  determined  to  have  the  boy  expelled 
from  his  situation.  The  three  complain- 
ants were  wealthy  Holyoke  merchants, 
and  it  was  evident  that  the  conductor 
stood  in  some  awe  of  them.  He  tried  to 
pacify  them,  and  explained  that  the  boy 
was  not  under  his  authority,  but  under 
that  of  one  of  the  news  companies,  but 
he  accomplished  nothing. 

Then  the  major  volunteered  some  testi- 
mony for  the  defense.  He  said : 

«  I  saw  it  all.  You  gentlemen  have 
not  meant^to  exaggerate  the  circum- 
stances, but  still  that  is  what  3-011  have 
done.  The  boy  has  done  nothing  more 
than  all  train-boys  do.  If  you  want  to 
get  his  ways  softened  down  and  his  man- 
ners reformed,  I  am  with  you  and  ready 
to  help,  but  it  isn't  fair  to  get  him  dis- 
charged without  giving  him  a  chance." 

But  they  were  angry  and  would  hear 
of  no  compromise.  They  were  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  president  of  the  Bos- 
ton &  Albany,  they  said,  and  would  put 
everything  aside  next  day  and  go  up  to 
Boston  and  fix  that  boy. 

The  major  said  he  would  be  on  hand 
too,  and  would  do  what  he  could  to  save 
the  boy.  One  of  the  gentlemen  looked 
him  over,  and  said  : 

"  Apparently,  it  is  going  to  be  a  matter 
of  who  can  wield  the  most  influence  with 
the  president.  Do  you  know  Mr.  Bliss 
personally  ?  " 

The  major  said,  with  composure  : 

"Yes  ;  he  is  \\\j  uncle." 

The  effect  was  satisfactory.  There  was 
an  awkward  silence  for  a  minute  or  more, 
then  the  hedging  and  the  half-confessions 
of  over-haste  and  exaggerated  resentment 
began,  and  soon  everything  was  smooth 
and  friendly  and  sociable,  and  it  was  re- 
solved to  drop  the  matter  and  leave  the 
boy's  bread  and  butter  unmolested. 

It  turned  out  as  I  had  expected  :  the 
president  of  the  road  was  not  the  major's 
uncle  at  all — except  by  adoption,  and  for 
this  day  and  train  only. 

We  got  into  no  episodes  on  the  return 
journey.  Probably  it  was  because  we 
took  a  night  train  and  slept  all  the  way. 


TRA  YELLING   WITH  A   REFORMER. 


213 


We  left  New  York  Saturday 
night  by  the  Pennsylvania  road. 
After  breakfast,  the  next  morn- 
ing, we  went  into  the  parlor-car, 
but  found  it  a  dull  place  and 
dreary.  There  were  but  few  peo* 
pie  in  it  and  nothing  going  on. 
Then  we  went  into  the  little 
smoking  compartment  of  the 
same  car  and  found  three  gen- 
tlemen in  there.  Two  of  them 
were  grumbling  over  one  of  the 
rules  of  the  road — a  rule  which 
forbade  card-playing  on  the 
trains  on  Sunday.  They  had 
started  an  innocent  gameof  high- 
low-jack  and  been  stopped.  The 
major  was  interested.  He  said 
to  the  third  gentleman : 

' '  Did  you  object  to  the  game  ? ' ' 

"  Not  at  all.    I  am  a  Yale  pro- 
fessor and  a  religious  man,  but  my  pre- 
judices are  not  extensive. " 

Then  the  major  said  to  the  others  : 

1 '  You  are  at  perfect  liberty  to  resume 
your  game,  gentlemen  ;  no  one  here  ob- 
jects." 

One  of  them  declined  the  risk,  but 
the  other  one  said  he  would  like  to  begin 
again  if  the  major  would  join  him.  So 
they  spread  an  overcoat  over  their  knees 
and  the  game  proceeded.  Pretty  soon 
the  parlor-conductor  arrived,  and  said 
brusquely: 

"There,  there,  gentlemen,  that  won't 
do.  Put  up  the  cards — it's  not  allowed." 

The  major  was  shuffling.  He  contin- 
ued to  shuffle,  and  said  : 

"  By  whose  order  is  it  forbidden  ?  " 

"It's  my  order.     I  forbid  it." 

The  dealing  began.    The  major  asked: 

1 '  Did  you  invent  the  idea  ?  ' ' 

"What  idea?" 

' '  The  idea  of  forbidding  card  playing 
on  Sunday." 

"  No — of  course  not." 

"Who  did?" 

"  The  company." 

"  Then  it  isn't  your  order,  after  all,  but 
the  company's.  Is  that  it  ?  " 

"  Yes.  But  you  don't  stop  playing  ;  1 
have  to  require  you  to  stop  playing  im- 
mediately." 

"  Nothing  is  gained  by  hurry,  and  often 
much  is  lost.  Who  authorized  the  com- 
pany to  issue  such  an  order  ? ' ' 

"  My  dear  sir,  that  is  a  matter  of  no 


THE  MAJOR  S    BROTHERS-IN-LAW. 

consequence  to  me,  and — " 

"  But  you  forget  that  you  are  not  the 
only  person  concerned.  It  may  be  a  mat- 
ter of  consequence  to  me.  It  is  indeed  a 
matter  of  very  great  importance  to  me.  I 
cannot  violate  a  legal  requirement  of  my 
country  without  dishonoring  myself ;  I 
cannot*  allow  any  man  or  corporation 
to  hamper  my  liberties  with  illegal  rules 
— a  thing  which  railway  companies  are 
always  trying  to  do — without  dishonoring 
my  citizenship.  So  I  come  back  to  that 
question  :  By  whose  authority  has  the 
company  issued  this  order  ?  " 

"  I  don't  knoiv.     That's  their  affair." 

1 '  Mine,  too.  I  doubt  if  the  company 
has  any  right  to  issue  such  a  rule.  This 
road  runs  through  several  States.  Do  you 
know  what  State  we  are  in  now,  and  what 
its  laws  are  in  matters  of  this  kind  ?  " 

"  It's  laws  do  not  concern  me,  but  the 
company's  orders  do.  It  is  my  duty  to 
stop  this  game,  gentlemen,  and  it  must 
be  stopped." 

"  Possibly  ;  but  still  there  is  no  hurry. 
In  hotels  they  post  certain  rules  in  the 


214 


TRA  VELLING   WITH  A  REFORMER. 


rooms,  but  they  always  quote  passages 
from  the  State  law  as  authority  for  these 
requirements.  I  see  nothing  posted  here 
of  this  sort.  Please  produce  your  author- 
ity and  let  us  arrive  at  a  decision,  for  you 
see,  yourself,  that  you  are  marring  the 
game. ' ' 

"  I  have  nothing  of  the  kind,  but  I 
have  my  orders,  and  that  is  sufficient. 
They  must  be  obej-ed." 

"Let  us  not  jump  to  conclusions.  It 
will  be  better  all  around  to  examine  into 
the  matter  without  heat  or  haste  and  see 
just  where  we  stand,  before  either  of  us 
makes  a  mistake — for  the  curtailing  of 
the  liberties  of  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States  is  a  much  more 
serious  matter  than 
you  and  the  railroads 
seem  to  think,  and  it 
cannot  be  done  in  my 
person  until  the  cur- 
tailer  proves  his  right 
to  do  so.  Now — " 

"My  dear  sir,  will 
you  put  down  those 
cards  ! ' ' 

' '  All  in  good  time, 
perhaps.  It  depends. 
You  say  this  order 
must  be  obeyed. 
Must.  It  is  a  strong 
word.  You  see,  your- 
self, how  strong  it  is. 
A  wise  company 
would  not  arm  }^ou 
with  so  drastic  an  order  as  this,  of  course, 
without  appointing  a  penalty  for  its  in- 
fringement. Otherwise  it  runs -the  risk 
of  being  a  dead  letter  and  a  thing  to  laugh 
at.  What  is  the  appointed  penalty  for 
an  infringement  of  this  law?" 

1 '  Penalty  ?     I  never  heard  of  any. ' ' 

"  Unquestionably  }'ou  must  be  mis- 
taken. Your  company  orders  you  to  come 
here  and  rudely  break  up  an  innocent 
amusement,  and  furnishes  you  no  way  to 
enforce  the  order?  Don't  you  see  that 
that  is  nonsense  ?  What  do  you  do  when 
people  refuse  to  obey  this  order  ?  Do  }-ou 
take  the  cards  away  from  them  ?  ' ' 

"No." 

"  Do  you  put  the  offender  off  at  the  next 
station  ? ' ' 

"  Well,  no — of  course  we  couldn't  if  he 
had  a  ticket." 

"  Do  you  have  him  up  before  a  court  ?  " 


The  conductor  was  silent  and  apparent- 
ly troubled.  The  major  started  a  new 
deal,  and  said  : 

"You  see  th^at  you  are  helpless,  and 
that  the  company  has  placed  you  in  a 
foolish  position.  You  are  furnished  with 
an  arrogant  order,  and  you  deliver  it  in  a 
blustering  way,  and  when  you  come  to 
look  into  the  matter  you  find  you  haven't 
any  way  of  enforcing  obedience." 

The  conductor  said,  with  chill  dignity  : 


IT  is  THE  COMPANY'S  RULE 

THAT      PASSENGERS       MUST     LEAVE 
THEIR     CITIZENSHIP 
IE      GATE  MAN- 


"  Gentlemen,  you  have  heard  the  order, 
and  my  duty  is  ended.  As  to  obeying  it 
or  not,  you  will  do  as  you  think  fit  " — and 
he  turned  to  leave. 

1 '  But  wait.  The  matter  is  not  yet  fin- 
ished. I  think  you  are  mistaken  about 
}•  our  duty  being  ended  ;  but  if  it  really  is, 
I  myself  have  a  duty  to  perform,  yet." 

"  How  do  you  mean?  " 

"Are  you  going  to  report  my  disobe- 
dience at  headquarters  in  Pittsburg?" 

"  No.     What  good  would  that  do  ?  " 

( '  You  must  report  me,  or  I  will  report 
you." 

' '  Report  me  for  what  ?  ' ' 

"  For  disobeying  the  company's  orders 
in  not  stopping  this  game.  As  a  citizen  it 


TRAVELLING    WITH  A  REFORMER. 


2I5 


is  my  duty  to  help  the  railway  companies 
keep  their  servants  to  their  work." 

1  •  Are  you  in  earnest  ?  ' ' 

"  Yes,  I  am  in  earnest.  I  have  nothing 
against  you  as  a  man,  but  I  have  this 
against  you  as  an  officer — that  you  have 
not  carried  out  that  order,  and  if  you  do 
not  report  me  I  must  report  you.  And  I 
will." 

The  conductor  looked  puzzled  and  was 
thoughtful  a  moment,  then  he  burst  out 
with — 

1 '  I  seem  to  be  getting  myself  into  a 
scrape  !  It's  all  a  muddle  ;  I  can't  make 
head  or  tail  of  it ;  it's  never  happened  be- 
fore ;  they  always  knocked  under  and 
never  said  a  word,  and  so  /  never  saw 
how  ridiculous  that  stupid  order  with 
no  penalty  is.  /  don't  want  to  report 
anybody,  and  I  don't  want  to  be  reported 
—  why,  it  might  do  me  no  end  of  harm  ! 
Now  do  go  on  with  the  game — play  the 
whole  day  if  you  want  to  —  and  don't 
let's  have  any  more  trouble  about  it!" 

"  No,  I  only  sat  down 
here  to  establish  this  gen- 
tleman's rights — he  can 
have  his  place,  now.  But 
before  you  go,  won't  you 
tell  me  what  you  think 
the  company  made  this 
rule  for  ?  Can  you  im- 
agine an  excuse  for  it  ?  I 
mean  a  rational  one — an 
excuse  that  is  not  on  its 
face  sill}',  and  the  inven- 
tion of  an  idiot  ?  ' ' 

"  Why,  surely  I  can. 
The  reason  it  was  made  is 
plain  enough.  It  is  to  save 
the  feelings  of  the  other 
passengers — the  religious 
onesainongthein,  I  mean. 
They  would  not  like  it,  to 
have  the  Sabbath  dese- 
crated by  card-playing  on 
the  train." 

"I  just  thought  as 
much.  They  are  willing 
to  desecrate  it  themselves 
by  travelling  on  Sunday, 
but  they  are  not  willing 
that  other  people — 

"  By  gracious,  you've 
hit  it  !  I  never  thought 
of  that  before.  The 
fact  is,  it  is  a  silly 


rule  when  you  come  to  look  into  it." 
At  this  point  the  train-conductor  ar- 
rived and  was  going  to  shut  down  the 
game  in  a  very  high-handed  fashion,  but 
the  parlor  -  conductor  stopped  him  and 
took  him  aside  to  explain.  Nothing  more 
was  heard  of  the  matter. 

I  was  ill  in  bed  eleven  days  in  Chicago 
and  got  no  glimpse  of  the  Fair,  for  I  was 
obliged  to  return  east  as  soon  as  I  was 
able  to  travel.  The  major  secured  and 
paid  for  a  stateroom  in  a  sleeper  the  day 
before  we  left,  so  that  I  could  have  plenty 
of  room  and  be  comfortable  ;  but  when  we 
arrived  at  the  station  a  mistake  had  been 
made  and  our  car  had  not  been  put  on. 
The  conductor  had  reserved  a  section  for 
us — it  was  the  best  he  could  do,  he  said. 
But  the  major  said  we  were  not  in  a  hurry, 
and  would  wait  for  the  car  to  be  put  on. 
The  conductor  responded  with  pleasant 
irony : 

"  It  may  be  that  you  are  not  in  a  hurry, 
just  as  you  say,  but  we  are.     Come,  get 
aboard,  gentlemen,    get 
aboard — don't  keep  us 
waiting." 

But  the  major  would 
not  get  aboard  himself 
nor  allow  me  to  do  it. 
He  wanted  his  car,  and 
said  he  must  have  it. 
This  made  the  hurried 
and  perspiring  conduc- 
tor impatient,  and  he 
said  : 

' '  Its  the  best  we  can 
do — we  can't  do  impos- 
sibilities. You  will  take 
the  section  or  go  with- 
out. A  mistake  has 
been  made  and  can't  be 
rectified  atthislatehour. 
It's  athing  that  happens 
now  and  then,  and  there 
is  nothing  for  it  but  to 
put  up  with  it  and  make 
the  best  of  it.  Other 
people  do." 

"  Ah,  that  is  just  it, 
you  see.  If  they  had 
stuck  to  their 
rights  and  en- 
forced them  you 
wouldn't  be  try- 
ing to  trample 
mine  under  foot 


THE   CONDUCTOR     LOOKED    PUZZLED    AND 
WAS    THOUGHTFUL  A    MOMENT." 


2l6 


TRA  YELLING  WITH  A   REFORMER. 


"  YOU   MUST  TAKE  THAT   GENTLEMAN'S  CHICKEN   AWAY   FROM   HIM   OR 
BRING   ME  ONE." 


in  this  bland  way  now.  I  haven't  any  dis- 
position to  give  you  unnecessary  trouble, 
but  it  is  m}r  duty  to  protect  the  next 
man  from  this  kind  of  imposition.  So  I 
must  have  my  car.  Otherwise  I  will 
wait  in  Chicago  and  sue  the  company  for 
violating  its  contract." 

"  Sue  the  company  ?  —  for  a  thing  like 
that !  " 

"  Certainly." 

"  Do  3rou  really  mean  that?  " 

"  Indeed,  I  do." 

The  conductor  looked  the  major  over 
wonderingly,  and  then  said  : 

"  It  beats  me — it's  bran  new — I've  never 
struck  the  mate  to  it  before.  But  I  swear 
I  think  you'd  do  it.  Look  here,  I'll  send 
for  the  station-master." 

When  the  station-master  came  he  was 
a  good  deal  annoyed — at  the  major;  not  at 
the  person  who  had  made  the  mistake. 
He  was  rather  brusque  and  took  the  same 
position  which  the  conductor  had  taken 
in  the  beginning  ;  but  he  failed  to  move 
the  soft-spoken  artilleryman,  who  still  in- 
sisted that  he  must  have  his  car.  How- 
ever, it  was  plain  that  there  was  only 
one  strong  side  in  this  case,  and  that  that 
side  was  the  major's.  The  station-master 
banished  his  annoyed  manner  and  be- 
came pleasant  and  even  half-apologetic. 
This  made  a  good  opening  for  a  compro- 
mise, and  the  major  made  a  concession. 
He  said  he  would  give  up  the  engaged 
stateroom,  but  he  must  have  a  stateroom. 
After  a  deal  of  ransacking,  one  was  found 
whose  owner  was  persuadable  ;  he  ex- 


changed it  for  our 
section  and  we  got 
away  at  last.  The 
conductor  called  on 
us  in  the  evening 
and  was  kind  and 
courteous  and  oblig- 
ing, and  we  had  a 
long  talk  and  got  to 
be  good  friends.  He 
said  he  wished  the 
public  would  make 
trouble  oftener — it 
would  have  a  good 
effect.  He  said  that 
the  railroads  could 
not  be  expected  to  do 
their  whole  duty  by 
the  traveller  unless 
the  traveller  would 

take  some  interest  in  the  matter  himself. 
I  hoped  that  we  were  done  reforming 
for  the  trip,  now,  but  it  was  not  so.  In 
the  hotel-car,  in  the  morning,  the  major 
called  for  broiled  chicken.  The  waiter 
said : 

"It's  not  in  the  bill  of  fare,  sir;  we 
do  not  serve  anything  but  what  is  in  the 
bill." 

"That  gentleman  yonder  is  eating  a 
broiled  chicken." 

"Yes,  but  that  is  different.  He  is  one 
of  the  superintendents  of  the  road." 

"Then,  all  the  more  must  I  have 
broiled  chicken.  I  do  not  like  these  dis- 
criminations. Please  hurry — bring  me  a 
broiled  chicken." 

The  waiter  brought  the  steward,  who 
explained  in  a  low  and  polite  voice  that 
the  thing  was  impossible — it  was  against 
the  rule,  and  the  rule  was  rigid. 

"  Very  well,  then,  }TOU  must  either  ap- 
ply it  impartially  or  break  it  impartially. 
You  must  take  that  gentleman's  chicken 
away  from  him  or  bring  me  one." 

The  steward  was  puzzled,  and  did  not 
quite  know  what  to  do.  He  began  an  in- 
coherent argument,  but  the  conductor 
came  along  just  then,  and  asked  what  the 
difficulty  was.  The  steward  explained 
that  here  was  a  gentleman  who  was  in- 
sisting on  having  a  chicken  when  it  was 
dead  against  the  rule  and  not  in  the  bill. 
The  conductor  said  : 

"  Stick  by  your  rules — you  haven't  any 
option.  Wait  a  moment — is  this  the  gen- 
tleman ?"  Then  he  laughed  and  said: 


BY  RIGHT  OF  BIRTH. 


217 


"  Never  mind  your  rules — it's  my  advice, 
and  sound  ;  give  him  anything  he  wants 
— don't  get  him  started  on  his  rights. 
Give  him  whatever  he  asks  for ;  and  if 
you  haven't  got  it,  stop  the  train  and  get 
it." 
The  major  ate  the  chicken,  but  said  he 


did  it  from  a  sense  ol  duty  and  to  estab- 
lish a  principle,  for  he  did  not  like 
chicken.  • 

I  missed  the  Fair,  it  is  true,  but  I 
picked  up  some  diplomatic  tricks  which  I 
and  the  reader  may  find  handy  and  use- 
ful as  we  go  along. 


BY   RIGHT    OF   BIRTH. 

BY  MAUDK  ANDREWS. 

SHADOWS  there   are,    aye,    shadows   manifold; 

Shadows  of  life,    of  death   to  'grieve  the  heart, 
Grim  shapes   of  want   and  care,    of  love  grown   cold, 

Of  treachery  that   played   a  cruel   part, — 

All  these  are   known    unto   each   human  heart; 
They   all   return   at  times   to  sit   beside 
The  hearthstone,    and   with    mocking  smiles   deride 
Life's   faith   and   hope,    but    they   will  quick   depart, 

Not  one  can   claim   the   right   to  hold   a  place 
As  household   guest,    save   that  dread   shape  that  came 

One  night   and    looked   you    boldly   in   the   face, 
And  said,    "I  am  thy   self-committed  shame!" 


LETTERS  OF  AN  ALTRURIAN 
TRAVELLER. 


II. 


Chicago,  .Sept.  28,  1893. 
My  dear  Cyril : 

When  I  last  wrote  you,  I  thought  to  have 
settled  quietly  down  in  New  York  for  the  rest 
of  my  stay  in  America,  and  given  my  time 
wholly  to  the  study  of  its  life,  which  seemed 
to  me  typical  of  the  life  of  the  whole  country. 
I  do  not  know,  even  now,  that  I  should  wish 
altogether  to  revise  this  impression  ;  it  still 
appears  to  me  just,  if  not  so  distinct  and  so 
decisive,  as  it  appeared  before  I  saw  Chicago, 
or  rather  the  World's  Fair  City  at  Chicago, 
which  is  what  I  want  to  write  you  of.  Chi- 
cago, one  might  say,  was  after  all  only  a 
Newer  York,  an  ultimated  Manhattan,  the 
realized  ideal  of  that  largeness,  loudness  and 
fastness,  which  New  York  has  persuaded  the 
Americans  is  metropolitan.  But  after  seeing 
the  World's  Fair  City  here,  I  feel  as  if  I 
had  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  glorious  capitals 
which  will  whiten  the  hills  and  shores  of  the 
east  and  the  borderless  plains  of  the  west, 
when  the  New  York  and  the  Newer  York  of 
today  shall  seem  to  all  the  future  Americans 
as  impossible  as  they  would  seem  to  any 
Altrurian  now. 

To  one  of  our  philosophy  it  will  not  be 
wonderful  that  this  Altrurian  miracle  should 
have  been  wrought  here  in  the  very  heart, 
and  from  the  very  heart,  of  egoism  seven 
times  heated  in  the  fiery  competition  hitherto 
the  sole  joy  of  this  strange  people.  We  know 


LETTERS  OF  AN  ALTRURIAN    TRAVELLER. 


219 


that  like  produces  like  only  up  to  a  certain 
point,  and  that  then  unlike  comes  of  like 
since  all  things  are  of  one  essence  ;  that 
from  life  comes  death  at  last,  and  from 
death  comes  life  again  in  the  final  issue. 
Yet  it  would  be  useless  trying  to  persuade 
most  Americans  that  the  World's  Fair  City 
was  not  the  effect,  the  fine  flower,  of  the 
competition  which  underlies  their  econ- 
omy, but  was  the  first  fruits  of  the  princi- 
ple of  emulation  which  animates  our 
happy  commonwealth,  and  gives  men,  as 
no  where  else  on  earth,  a  foretaste  of 
heaven.  If  I  were  writing  to  an  Amer- 
ican I  should  have  to  supply  him  with 
proofs  and  argue  facts  at  every  moment, 
which  will  be  self-evident  to  you  in  their 
mere  statement. 

I  confess  that  I  was  very  loth  to  leave 
New  York,  which  I  fancied  I  was  begin- 
ning to  see  whole,  after  my  first  fragmen- 
tary glimpses  of  it.  But  I  perceive  now 
that  without  a  sight  of  the  White  City  (as 
the  Americans  with  their  instant  poetry 
called  the  official  group  of  edifices  at  the 
great  Fair)  and  the  knowledge  of  its  his- 
tory, which  I  could  have  realized  nowhere 
but  in  its  presence,  New  York  would  have 
wanted  the  relief,  the  projection,  in  W7hich 
I  shall  hereafter  be  able  to  study  it.  For 
the  worst  effect  of  sojourn  in  an  egoistic 
civilization  ( I  always  use  this  word  for 
lack  of  a  closer  descriptive)  is  that  Altru- 
rian  motives  and  efforts  become  incredi- 
ble, and  almost  inconceivable.  But  the 
Fair  City  is  a  bit  of  Altruria  :  it  is  as  if 
the  capital  of  one  of  our  Regions  had  set 
sail  and  landed  somehow  on  the  shores 
of  the  vast  inland  sea,  where  the  Fair 
City  lifts  its  domes  and  columns. 

Its  story,  which  I  need  not  rehearse  to 
you  at  any  length,  records  the  first  great 
triumph  of  Altrurian  principles  among 
this  people  in  a  work  of  peace  ;  in  their 
mighty  civil  war  they  were  Altrurian 
enough  ;  and  more  than  once  the}-  have 
proved  themselves  capable  of  a  magnifi- 
cent self-sacrifice  in  bloodshed,  but  here 
for  the  first  time  in  their  pitiless  economic 
struggle,  their  habitual  warfare  in  which 
they  neither  give  nor  ask  quarter,  and 
take  no  prisoners,  the  interests  submitted 
to  the  arts,  and  lent  themselves  as  frankly 
to  the  work  as  if  there  had  never  been  a 
question  of  money  in  the  world.  From 
the  beginning  it  was  believed  that  there 
could  be  no  profit  in  the  Fair ;  money 


loss  was  expected  and  accepted  as  a  nec- 
essary part  of  the  greater  gain  ;  and  when 
the  question  passed  from  how  much  to 
how,  in  the  discussion  of  the  ways  and 
means  of  creating  that  beauty  which  is 
the  supreme  use,  the  capitalists  put 
themselves  into  the  hands  of  the  artists. 
They  did  not  do  it  at  once,  and  they  did 
not  all  do  it  willingly.  It  is  a  curious 
trait  of  the  American  who  has  made 
money  that  he  thinks  he  can  make  any- 
thing ;  and  the  Chicago  millionaires  who 
found  themselves  authorized  by  the  na- 
tion to  spend  their  money  in  the  creation 
of  the  greatest  marvel  of  the  competitive 
world,  thought  themselves  fully  compe- 
tent to  work  the  miracle,  or  to  choose  the 
men  who  would  work  it  according  to  their 
ideals.  But  their  clarification,  if  it  was 
not  as  swift  as  the  passage  of  light  was 
thorough,  and  I  do  not  suppose  there  is 
now  any  group  of  rich  men  in  Europe  or 
America  who  have  so  luminous  a  sense 
of  the  true  relations  of  the  arts  and  the 
interests  as  the}7.  The  notion  of  a  com- 
petition among  the  artists,  which  is  the 
practical  American's  notion  of  the  way 
to  get  the  best  art,  was  at  length  rejected 
by  these  most  practical  Americans,  and 
one  mind  large  enough  to  conceive  the 
true  means  and  strong  enough  to  give 
its  conception  effect  was  empowered  to  in- 
vite the  free  cooperation  of  the  arts  through 


220 


LETTERS  OF  AN  ALTRURIAN    TRAVELLER. 


the  foremost  artists  of  the  country.  As 
yet  the  governmental  function  is  so 
weak  here  that  the  national  part  in 
the  work  was  chiefly  obstructive,  and 
finally  null;  and  when  it  came  to  this 
there  remained  an  opportunity  for  the 
arts,  unlimited  as  to  means  and  unhamp- 
ered by  conditions. 

For  the  different  buildings  to  be  erected, 
different  architects  were  chosen  ;  and  for 
the  first  time  since  the  great  ages,  since 
the  beauty  of  antiquity  and  the  elegance 
of  the  renaissance,  the  arts  were  reunited. 
The  greatest  landscape  gardeners,  archi- 
tects, sculptors  and  painters,  gathered 
at  Chicago  for  a  joyous  interchange  of 
ideas  and  criticisms  ;  and  the  miracle  of 
beauty  which  they  have  wrought  grew 
openly  in  their  breath  and  under  their 
hands.  Each  did  his  work  and  had  his 
way  with  it,  but  in  this  congress  of 
gifted  minds,  of  sensitive  spirits,  each 
profited  by  the  censure  of  all,  and  there 
were  certain  features  of  the  work — as  for 
instance,  the  exquisite  peristyle  dividing 
the  city  from  the  lake — which  were  the 
result  of  successive  impulses  and  sug- 
gestions from  so  many  different  artists 
that  it  would  be  hard  to  divide  the  honor 
among  them  with  exactness.  No  one, 
however,  seems  to  have  been  envious  of 
another's  share,  and  each  one  gave  his 
talent  as  freely  as  the  millionaires  gave 
their  money.  These  great  artists  will- 
ingly accepted  a  fifth,  a  tenth,  of  the 
gain  which  they  could  have  commanded 
in  a  private  enterprise,  and  lavished  their 
time  upon  the  opportunity  afforded  them, 
for  the  pleasure  of  it,  the  pride  of  it, 
the  pure  good  of  it. 

Of 'the  effect,  of  the  visible,  tangible 
result,  what  better  can  I  say,  than  that  in 
its  presence  I  felt  myself  again  in  Altru- 
ria?  The  tears  came,  and  the  pillared 
porches  swam  against  my  vision; 
through  the  hard  nasal  American  tones, 
the  liquid  notes  of  our  own  speech  stole 
to  my  inner  ear;  I  saw  under  the  care- 
worn masks  of  the  competitive  crowds, 
the  peace,  the  rest  of  the  dear  Altrurian 
face;  the  gay  tints  of  our  own  simple 
costumes  eclipsed  the  dHFerent  versions  of 
the  Paris  fashions  about  me.  I  was  at 
home  once  more,  and  1113'  heart  over- 
flowed with  patriotic  rapture  in  this 
strange  land,  so  remote  from  ours  in 
everything,  that  at  times  Altruria  really 


seems  to  me  the  dream  which  the  Amer- 
icans think  it. 

I  first  saw  the  Fair  City  by  night,  from 
one  of  the  electric  launches  which  ply 
upon  the  lagoon;  and  tinder  the  dimmed 
heaven,  in  the  splendor  of  the  hundred 
moony  arc-lamps  of  the  esplanades,  and 
the  myriad  incandescent  bubbles  that 
beaded  the  white  quays,  and  defined  the 
structural  lines  of  dome  and  porch  and 
pediment,  I  found  myself  in  the  midst 
of  the  Court  of  Honor,  which  you  v/ili 
recognize  on  the  general  plan  and  the 
photographs  I  enclose.  We  fronted  the 
beautiful  Agricultural  building,  which  I 
think  fiLly  the  finest  in  the  city,  though 
many  prefer  the  perfect  Greek  of  the  Art 
building ;  and  on  our  right  was  the  Ad- 
ministration building  with  its  coroneted 
dome,  and  the  magnificent  sculptured 
fountain  before  it,  turned  silver  in  the  ra- 
diance of  the  clustered  electric  jets  at 
either  side.  On  our  right  was  the  glorious 
peristyle,  serene,  pure,  silent,  lifting  a 
population  of  statues  against  the  night, 
and  dividing  the  lagoon  from  the  lake, 
whose  soft  moan  came  appealingly 
through  the  pillared  spaces,  and  added 
a  divine  heartache  to  my  ecstac}'.  Here  a 
group  of  statuary  showed  itself  promi- 
nently on  quay  or  cornice; -we  caught 
the  flamy  curve  of  a  bridge's  arch  ;  a 
pale  column  lifted  its  jutting  prores  into 
the  light  ;  but  nothing  insisted  ;  all  was 
harmonized  to  one  effect  of  beauty,  as  if 
in  symbol  of  the  concentered  impulses 
which  had  created  it.  For  the  moment 
I  could  not  believe  that  so  foul  a  thing 
as  money  could  have  been  even  the  means 
of  its  creation.  I  call  the  effect  creation 
because  it  is  divinely  beautiful,  but  no 
doubt  suggestion  would  be  a  better  word, 
since  they  have  here  merety  sketched  in 
stucco  what  we  have  executed  in  marble 
in  each  of  our  Regionic  capitals. 

In  grandeur  of  design  and  freedom  of 
expression,  it  is  perhaps  even  nobler  than 
the  public  edifices  of  some  of  these,  as  I 
had  to  acknowledge  at  another  moment, 
when  we  rounded  the  shores  of  the 
Wooded  Island  which  forms  the  heart  of 
the  lagoon,  and  the  launch  slowed  while 
we  got  the  effect  of  its  black  foliage 
against  the  vast  lateral  expanse  of  the 
Liberal  Arts  building.  Then,  indeed,  I 
was  reminded  of  our  national  capitol, 
when  it  shows  its  mighty  mass  above 


LETTERS  OF  AN  ALTRURIAN    TRAVELLER. 


221 


the  bosks  around  it,  on  some  anniversary 
night  of  our  Evolution. 

But  the  illusion  of  Altruria  was  very 
vivid  at  many  moments  in  the  Fair  City, 
where  I  have  spent  the  happiest  days  of 
my  stay  in  America,  perhaps  because  the 
place  is  so  little  American  in  the  accepted 
sense.  It  is  like  our  own  cities  in  being 
a  design,  the  effect  of  a  principle,  and  not 
the  straggling  and  shapeless  accretion  of 
accident.  You  will  see,  from  the  charts 
and  views  I  send  you,  something  of  the 
design  in  detail,  but  you  can  form  only  a 
dim  conception  of  the  skill  with  which 
the  natural  advantages  of  the  site  have 
been  turned  to  account,  and  even  its  dis- 
advantages have  been  transmuted  to  the 
beauty  which  is  the  highest  and  last 
result  of  all.  There  was  not  only  the 
great  lake  here,  which  contributes  so 
greatly  to  this  beauty,  but  there  were 
marshes  to  be  drained  and  dredged  be- 
fore its  pure  waters  could  be  invited  in. 
The  trees  which  at  different  points  offer 
the  contrast  of  their  foliage  to  the  white 
of  the  edifices,  remain  from  wilding 
growths  which  overspread  the  swamps 
and  sand  dunes,  and  which  had  to  be 
destroyed  in  great  part  before  these  lovely 
groves  could  be  evoked  from  them.  The 
earth  itself,  which  now  of  all  the  earth 
seems  the  spot  best  adapted  to  the 
site  of  such  a  city,  had  literally 
to  be  formed  anew  for  the  use  it 
has  been  put  to.  There  is  now  no 
shadow,  no  hint  of  the  gigantic 
difficulties  of  the  undertaking, 
which  was  carried  on  in  the  true 
Altrurian  spirit,  so  far  as  the  capitalists 
and  artists  were  concerned,  and  with  a  joy 
like  ours  in  seeing  nature  yield  herself  to 
the  enlightened  will  of  man.  If  I  told 
you  how  time  itself  was  overcome  in  this 
work  by  the  swiftness  of  modern  methods, 
it  would  be  nothing  new  to  you,  for  we  are 
used  to  seeing  the  powerful  machinery  of 
our  engineers  change  the  face  of  the  land- 


scape, without  stay  for  the  slow  processes 
of  other  days,  when  the  ax  and  the  saw 
wrought  for  years  in  the  destruction  of 
the  forests  that  now  vanish  in  a  night. 
But  to  the  Americans  these  things  are 
still  novel,  and  they  boast  of  the  speed 
with  which  the  trees  were  dragged  from 
the  soil  where  they  were  rooted,  and  the 
morasses  were  effaced,  and  the  wastes  of 
sand  made  to  smile  with  the  verdure  that 
now  forms  the  most  enchanting  feature 
of  their  normal  city. 

They  dwell  upon  this,  and  they  do  not 
seem  to  feel  as  I  do  the  exquisite  simpli- 
city with  which  its  life  is  operated,  the 
perfection  with  which  it  is  policed,  and 
the  thoroughness  with  which  it  has  been 
dedicated  to  health  as  well  as  beauty.  In 


A     BIT    OK    THIi    GKRMAN    BUII,DI.N(i 


LETTERS  OF  AN  ALTRURIAN   TRAVELLER. 


fact,  I  fancy  that  veiy  few  out  of  the  mill- 
ions who  visit  this  gala  town  realize  that 
it  has  its  own  system  of  drainage,  lighting 
and  transportation,  and  its  own  govern- 
ment, which  looks  as  scrupulously  to  the 
general  comfort  and  cleanliness,  as  if 
these  were  the  private  concern  of  each 
member  of  the  government.  This  is,  as 
it  rs  with  us,  military  in  form,  and  the 
same  precision  and  discipline  which  give 
us  the  ease  and  freedom  of  our  civic  life, 
proceed  here  from  the  same  spirit  and 
the  same  means.  The  Columbian  Guards, 
as  they  are  called,  who  are  here  at  every 
turn,  to  keep  order  and  to  care  for  the  pleas- 
ure as  well  as  the  welfare  of  the  people, 
have  been  trained  by  officers  of  the  United 
States  army,  who  still  command  them, 
and  they  are  amenable  to  the  rules  govern- 
ing the  only  body  in  America  whose  ideal 
is  not  interest  but  duty.  Every  night, 
the  whole  place  is  cleansed  of  the  rubbish 
which  the  visitors  leave  behind  them,  as 
thoroughly  as  if  it  were  a  camp.  It  is 
merely  the  litter  of  lunch-boxes  and  waste 
paper  which  has  to  be  looked  after,  for 
there  is  little  of  the  filth  resulting  in 
all  other  American  cities  from  the  use  of 
the  horse,  which  is  still  employed  in  them 
so  many  centuries  after  it  has  been  ban- 
ished from  ours.  The  United  States  mail- 
carts  and  the  watering-carts  are  indeed 
anomalously  drawn  through  the  Fair  City 
thoroughfares  by  horses,  but  wheeled 
chairs  pushed  about  by  a  corps  of  high 
school  boys  and  college  undergraduates 
form  the  means  of  transportation  by  land 
for  those  who  do  not  choose  to  walk.  On 
the  water,  the  electric  launches  are  quite 
of  our  own  pattern,  and  steam  is  allowed 
only  on  the  boats  which  carr}'  people  out 
into  the  lake  for  a  view  of  the  peristyle. 
But  you  can  get  this  by  walking,  and  as 
in  Venice,  which  is  represented  here  by  a 
fleet  of  gondolas,  there  are  bridges  that 
enable  you  to  reach  every  desirable  point 
on  the  lagoon. 

When  I  have  spoken  of  all  this  to  my 
American  friends  they  have  not  perceived 
the  moral  value  of  it,  and  when  I  have 
insisted  upon  the  practical  perfection  of 
the  scheme  apparent  in  the  whole,  they 
have  admitted  it,  but  answered  me  that  it 
would  never  do  for  a  business  city,  where 
there  was  something  going  on  besides  the 
pleasure  of  the  eyes  and  the  edification  of 
the  mind.  When  I  tell  them  that  this  is 


all  that  our  Altrurian  cities  are  for,  they 
do  not  understand  me  ;  they  ask  where 
the  money  is  made  that  the  people  live 
on  in  such  play-cities  ;  and  we  are  alike 
driven  to  despair  when  I  try  to  explain 
that  we  have  no  money,  and  should  think 
it  futile  and  impious  to  have  any. 

I  do  not  believe  they  quite  appreciate 
the  intelligence  with  which  the  Fair  City 
proper  has  been  separated,  with  a  view  to 
its  value  as  an  object  lesson,  from  all  the 
state  and  national  buildings  in  the  ground. 
Some  of  the  national  buildings,  notably 
those  of  Germany  and  Sweden,  are  very 
picturesque,  but  the  rest  decline  through 
various  grades  of  inferiority,  down  to  the 
level  of  the  State  buildings.  Of  these, 
only  the  California  and  the  New  York 
buildings  have  a  beauty  comparable  to 
that  of  the  Fair  City :  the  California 
house,  as  a  reminiscence  of  the  Spanish  ec- 
clesiastical architecture  in  which  her  early 
history  is  recorded,  and  the  New  York 
house,  as  a  sumptuous  expression  of  the 
art  which  ministers  to  the  luxury  of  the 
richest  and  greatest  State  of  the  Union. 

By  still  another  remove  the  competitive 
life  of  the  present  epoch  is  relegated  to  the 
long  avenue  remotest  from  the  White  City, 
which  you  will  find  marked  as  the  Mid- 
way Plaisance.  Even  this,  where  a  hun- 
dred shows  rival  one  another  in  a  furious 
advertisement  for  the  favor  of  the  passer, 
there  is  so  much  of  a  high  interest  that  I 
am  somewhat  loth  to  instance  it  as  actu- 
ated by  an  inferior  principle  ;  and  I  do  so 
only  for  the  sake  of  the  contrast.  In  the 
Fair  Cit}-,  everything  is  free;  in  the  Plais- 
ance even-thing  must  be  paid  for.  You 
strike  at  once  here  the  hard  level  of  the 
outside  western  world  ;  and  the  Orient, 
which  has  mainly  peopled  the  Plaisance, 
with  its  theaters  and  restaurants  and 
shops,  takes  the  tint  of  the  ordinary  Amer- 
ican enterprise,  and  puts  on  somewhat 
the  manners  of  the  ordinary  American 
hustler.  It  is  not  really  so  bad  as  that, 
but  it  is  worse  than  American  in  some  of 
the  appeals  it  makes  to  the  American  pub- 
lic, which  is  decent  if  it  is  dull,  and  re- 
spectable if  it  is  rapacious.  The  lascivious 
dances  of  the  East  are  here,  in  the  Persian 
and  Turkish  and  Egyptian  theaters,  as 
well  as  the  exquisite  archaic  drama  of  the 
Javanese  and  the  Chinese  in  their  village 
and  temple.  One  could  spend  man}-  days 
in  the  Plaisance,  always  entertainingly, 


LETTERS  OF  AN  ALTRURIAN   TRAVELLER. 


223 


whether  profitably  or  unprofitably ;  but 
whether  one  visited  the  Samoan  or  Daho- 
meyan  in  his  hut,  the  Bedouin  and  the 
Lap  in  their  camps,  the  delicate  Javanese 
in  his  bamboo  cottage,  or  the  American 
Indian  in  his  tepee,  one  must  be  aware 
that  the  citizens  of  the  Plaisance  are  not 
there  for  their  health,  as  the  Americans 
quaintly  say,  but  for  the  money  there  is 
in  it.  Some  of  the  reproductions  of  his- 
torical and  foreign  scenes  are  excellent, 
like  the  irregular  square  of  Old  Vienna, 
with  its  quaintly  built  and  quaintly  dec- 
orated shops;  the  German  village, 
with  its  admirably  realized  castle  /  \ 
and  chalet ;  and  the  Cair-  i  " 

ene  street,  with  its  mot- 
ley oriental  life;  but  these 
are  all  there  for  the  profit 
to  be  had  from  the  pleas- 
ure of  their  visitors,  who 
seem  to  pay  as  freely  as 
they  talk   through    their 
noses.     The  great  Ferris 
wheel  itself,  with  its  circle 
revolving  by  night  and  by 
day  in  an  orbit  incom- 
parably vast,  is  in  the 
last  analysis  a  money- 
making  contrivance. 

I  have  tried  to  make 
my  American  friends 
see  the  difference,  as  I 
do,  between  the  motive 
that  created  the  Fair 
City,  and  the  motive 
that  created  the  Plais- 
ance, but  both  seem  to 


them  alike 
the  outcome 
of  the  princi- 
ple  which 
they  still  be- 
1  i  eve  an  i- 
mates  their 
whole  life. 
They  think 
both  an  effect 
of  the  com- 
petitive con- 
ditions  in 
which  they 
glory,  not 
knowing  that 


their  conditions  are  now  purely  monopolis- 
tic, and  not  perceiving  that  the  White  City 
is  the  work  of  an  armistice  between  the 
commercial  interests  ruling  them.  I  ex- 
pressed this  belief  to  one  of  them,  the 
banker,  whom  I  met  last  summer  in 
the  country,  and  whom  I  ran  upon  one 
night  during  the  first  week  of  my  visit 
here  ;  and  he  said  there  could  certainly 
be  that  view  of  it.  But,  like  the  rest, 
lie  asked  where  the  money  would  have 
come  from  without  the  warfare  of  com- 
petitive conditions,  and  he  said  he 
could  not  make  out  how  we  got  the 
money  for  our  public  works  in  Al- 
truria,  or,  in  fact,  how  we  paid 
the  piper.  When  I  answered 
that  as  each  one  of  us  was  se- 
cured by  all  against  want,  every 
one  could  freely  give  his  labor,  without 
money  and  without  price,  and  the  piper 
could  play  for  the  pure  pleasure  of  play- 
ing, he  looked  stupefied  and  said  incred- 
ulously, "  Oh,  come,  now  !  " 

"  Why,  how  strange  you  Americans 
are,"  I  could  not  help  breaking  out  upon 
him,  "  with  your  talk  about  competition  ! 
There  is  no  competition  among  you  a  mo- 
ment longer  than  you  can  help,  a  moment 
after  one  proves  himself  stronger  than 
another.  Then  you  have  monopoly,  which 
even  upon  the  limited  scale  it  exists  here 
is  the  only  vital  and  fruitful  principle,  as 
you  all  see.  And  yet  you  are  afraid  to 
have  it  upon  the  largest  possible  scale, 


224 


LETTERS  OF  AN  ALTRUR1AN    TRAVELLER. 


the  national  scale,  the  scale  commensur- 
ate with  the  whole  body  politic,  which 
implicates  care  for  every  citizen  as  the 
liege  of  the  collectivity.  When  you  have 
monopoly  of  such  proportions  money  wil1 
cease  to  have  any  office  among  }7ou,  and 
such  a  beautiful  creation  as  this  will  have 
effect  from  a  consensus  of  the  common 
wills  and  wishes." 

He  listened  patiently,  and  he  answered 
amiably,  "  Yes,  that  is  what  you  Altru- 
rians  believe,  I  suppose,  and  certainly 
what  you  preach  ;  and  if  you  look  at  it 
in  that  light,  why  there  certainly  is  no 
competition  left,  except  between  the  mon- 
opolies. But  you  must  allow,  my  dear 
Homos,"  he  went  on,  "  that  at  least 
one  of  the  twin  fetishes  of  our  barbarous 
worship  has  had  something  to  do  with 
the  creation  of  all  this  beauty.  I'll  own 
that  you  have  rather  knocked  the  notion 
of  competition  on  the  head  ;  the  money 
that  made  this  thing  possible  never  came 
from  competition  at  all  ;  it  came  from 
some  sort  or  shape  of  monopoty,  as  all 
money  always  does  ;  but  what  do  you  say 
about  individuality  ?  You  can't  say  that 
individuality  has  had  nothing  to  do  with 
it.  In  fact,  you  can't  deny  that  it  has 
had  everything  to  do  with  it,  from  the 
individuality  of  the  several  capitalists, 
up  or  down,  to  the  individuality  of  the 
several  artists.  And  will  you  pretend  in 


the  face  of  all  this  wonderful  work  that 
individuality  is  a  bad  thing  ?  " 

"  Have  I  misrepresented  myself  and 
country  so  fatally,"  I  returned,  "as  to 
have  led  you  to  suppose  that  the  Altruri- 
ans  thought  individuality  a  bad  thing  ? 
It  seems  to  us  the  most  precious  gift  of 
the  Deity,  the  dearest  and  holiest  posses- 
sion of  his  creatures.  What  I  lament 
in  America  at  every  moment,  what  I  la- 
ment even  here,  in  the  presence  of  a  work 
so  largely  Altrurian  in  conception  and 
execution  as  this,  is  the  wholesale  efface- 
ment,  the  heartbreaking  obliteration  of  in- 
dividuality. I  know  very  well  that  you 
can  give  me  the  name  of  the  munificent 
millionaires — large-thoughted  and  noble- 
willed  men — whose  largesse  made  this 
splendor  possible,  and  the  name  of  every 
artist  they  freed  to  such  a  glorious  oppor- 
tunity. Their  individuality  is  lastingly 
safe  in  your  memories  ;  but  what  of  the 
artisans  of  every  kind  and  degree,  whose 
patience  and  skill  realized  their  ideals? 
Where  will  you  find  their  names  ?  " 

My  companions  listened  respectfully, 
but  not  very  seriousl}7,  and  in  his  reply  he 
took  refuge  in  that  humor  peculiar  to  the 
Americans  :  a  sort  of  ether  where  they  may 
draw  breath  for  a  moment  free  from  the 
stifling  despair  which  must  fill  every  true 
man  among  them  when  he  thinks  how  far 
short  of  their  ideal  their  reality  has  fallen. 


LETTERS  OF  AN  ALTRURIAN  TRAVELLER. 


225 


For  they  were  once  a  people  with  the 
noblest  ideal ;  we  were  not  mistaken  about 
that ;  they  did,  indeed,  intend  the  greatest 
good  to  the  greatest  number,  and  not 
merely  the  largest  purse  to  the  longest 
head.  They  are  a  proud  people,  and  it  is 
hard  for  them  to  confess  that  they  have 
wandered  from  the  right  way,  and  fallen 
into  a  limitless  bog,  where  they  can  only 
bemire  themselves  more  and  more  till  its 
miasms  choke  them  or  its  foul  waters 
close  over  them. 

"  M/y  dear  fellow,"  the  banker  laughed, 
"you  are  very  easily  answered.  You  will 
find  their  names  on  the  pay-rolls,  where, 
I've  no  doubt,  they  preferred  to  have  them. 
Why,  there  was  an  army  of  them  ;  and  we 
don't  erect  monuments  to  private  soldiers, 
except  in  the  lump.  How  would  you  have 
managed  it  in  Altruria?  " 

"In  Altruria,"  I  replied,  "every  man 
who  drove  a  nail,  or  stretched  a  line,  or  laid 
a  trowel  upon  such  a  work,  would  have 
had  his  name  somehow  inscribed  upon  it, 
where  he  could  find  it,  and  point  it  out  to 
those  dear  to  him  and  proud  of  him.  In- 
dividuality !  I  find  no  record  of  it  here, 
unless  it  is  the  individuality  of  the  few. 
That  of  the  many  makes  no  sign  from 
the  oblivion  in  which  it  is  lost,  either  in 
these  public  works  of  artistic  coopera- 
tion, or  the  exhibits  of  your  monopolistic 
competition.  I  have  wandered  through 


these  vast  edifices  and  looked  for  the 
names  of  the  men  who  wrought  the  mar- 
vels of  ingenuity  that  fill  them.  But  I 
have  not  often  found  the  name  even  of  a 
man  who  owns  them.  I  have  found  the 
styles  of  the  firms,  the  companies,  the 
trvists  which  turn  themoutas  impersonally 
as  if  no  heart  had  ever  ached  or  glowed 
in  imagining  and  embodying  them.  This 
whole  mighty  industrial  display  is  in  so 
far  dehumanized  ;  and  yet  you  talk  of 
individuality  as  one  of  your  animating 
principles!" 

"You  are  hopelessly  unbusinesslike, 
my  dear  Homos,"  said  the  banker,  "but 
I  like  3'our  impracticability.  There  is 
something  charming  in  it ;  there  is, 
really  ;  and  I  enjoy  it  particularly  at  this 
moment  because  it  has  enabled  me  to  get 
back  my  superiority  to  Chicago.  I  am 
a  Bostonian,  you  know,  and  I  came  out 
here  with  all  the  misgivings  which  a  Bos- 
tonian begins  to  secrete  as  soon  as  he  gets 
west  of  the  Back  Bay  Fens.  It  is  a  sur- 
vival of  Puritanism  in  us.  In  the  old 
times,  you  know,  every  Bostonian,  no 
matter  how  he  prayed  and  professed,  felt 
it  in  his  bones  that  he  was  one  of  the 
elect,  and  we  each  feel  so  still  ;  only,  then 
God  elected  us,  and  now  we  elect  oui- 
selves.  Fancy  such  a  man  confronted 
with  such  an  achievement  as  this,  and 
unfriended  yet  by  an  Altrurian  traveller  ! 

15 


226 


LETTERS  OF  AN  ALTRURIAN  TRAVELLER. 


Why,  JL  have  gone  about  the  last  three  days 
inwardly  bowed  down  before  Chicago  in 
the  most  humiliating  fashion.  I've  said 
to  myself  that  our  eastern  fellows  did  half 
the  thing,  perhaps  the  best  half;  but  then 
I  had  to  own  it  was  Chicago  that  im- 
agined letting  them  do  it,  that  imagined 
the  thing  as  a  whole,  and  I  had  to  give 
Chicago  the  glory.  When  I  looked  at  it 
I  kad  to  forgive  Chicago  Chicago,  but 
now  that  you've  set  me  right  about  the 
matter,  and  I  see  that  the  whole  thing  is 
dehumanized,  I  shall  feel  quite  easy,  and 
I  shall  not  give  Chicago  any  more  credit 
than  is  due." 

I  saw  that  he  was  joking,  but  I  did  not 
see  how  far,  and  I  thought  it  best  not  to 
take  him  in  joke  at  all.  "Ah,  I  don't 
think  you  can  give  her  too  much  credit, 
even  if  you  take  her  at  the  worst.  It 
seems  to  me,  from  what  I  have  seen  of 
your  country — and,  of  course,  I  speak  from 
a  foreigner's  knowledge  only  —  that  no 
other  American  city  could  have  brought 
this  to  pass." 

' '  You  must  come  and  stay  with  us  a 
while  in  Boston,"  said  the  banker  ;  and 
he  smiled.  "  One  other  city  could  have 
done  it.  Boston  has  the  public  spirit  and 
Boston  has  the  money,  but  perhaps  Bos- 
ton has  not  the  ambition.  Perhaps  we 
give  ourselves  in  Boston  too  much  to  a 
sense  of  the  accomplished  fact.  If  that 
is  a  fault,  it  is  the  only  fault  conceivable 
of  us.  Here  in  Chicago  they  have  the 
public  spirit,  and  they  have  the  money, 
and  they  are  still  anxious  to  do  ;  they  are 
not  content  as  we  are,  simply  to  be.  Of 
course,  they  have  not  so  much  reason!  I 
don't  know,"  he  added  thoughtfully,  "but 
it  comes  in  the  end  to  what  you  were  say- 
ing, and  no  other  American  city  but  Chi- 
cago could  have  brought  this  to  pass. 
Leaving  everything  else  but  of  the  ques- 
tion, I  doubt  if  any  other  community 
could  have  fancied  the  thing  in  its  vast- 
ness  ;  and  the  vastness  seems  an  essential 
condition  of  the  beauty.  You  couldn't 
possibly  say  it  was  pretty,  for  instance ;  if 
you  admitted  it  was  fine  you  would  have  to 
say  it  was  beautiful.  To  be  sure,  if  it  were 
possible  to  have  too  much  of  a  good  thing, 
there  are  certain  states  of  one's  legs,  here, 
when  one  could  say  there  was  too  much 
of  it  ;  but  that  is  not  possible.  But  come, 
now  ;  be  honest  for  once,  my  dear  fellow, 
and  confess  that  you  really  prefer  the 


Midway  Plaisance  to  the    Fair    City  !  " 
I  looked  at  him  with  silent  reproach,  and 

he  broke  out  laughing,  and  took  me  by 

the  arm. 

"At  any  rate,"    he  said,   "let  us  go 

down  there,  and  get  something  to  eat. 

'  The  glory  that  was  Greece, 
And  the  grandeur  that  was  Rome,' 

here,  take  it  out  of  you  so  that  I  find  my- 
self wanting  lunch  about  every  three 
hours.  It's  nearly  as  long  as  that  now, 
since  i  dined,  and  I  feel  an  irresistible 
yearning  for  Old  Vienna,  where  that 
pinchbeck  halberdier  of  a  watchman  is 
just  now  crying  the  hour  of  nine." 

"Oh,  is  it  so  late  as  that?"  I  began, 
for  I  like  to  keep  our  Altrurian  hours 
even  here,  when  I  can,  and  I  was  going 
to  say  that  I  could  not  go  with  him  when 
he  continued : 

"They  won't  turn  us  out,  if  that's  what 
you  mean.  Theoretically,  they  do  turn 
people  out  toward  the  small  hours,  but 
practically,  one  can  stay  here  all  night,  I 
believe.  That's  a  charming  thing  about 
the  Fair,  and  I  suppose  it's  rather  Chi- 
cagoan;  if  we'd  had  the  Fair  in  Boston, 
every  soul  would  have  had  to  leave  before 
midnight.  We  couldn't  have  helped 
turning  them  out,  from  the  mere  oldmaid- 
ishness  of  our  Puritanic  tradition,  and 
not  because  we  really  minded  their  staying. 
In  New  York  they  would  have  put  them 
out  from  Keltic  imperiousness,  and  locked 
them  up  in  the  station-house  when  they 
got  them  out,  especially  if  they  were 
sober  and  inoffensive." 

I  could  not  follow  him  in  this  very  well, 
or  in  the  playful  allusiveness  of  his  talk 
generally,  though  I  have  reported  it,  to 
give  some  notion  of  his  manner;  and  so  I 
said,  by  way  of  bringing  him  within 
easy  range  of  my  intelligence  again,  "  I 
have  seen  no  one  here  who  showed  signs 
of  drink." 

"  No,"  he  returned.  "  What  a  serious, 
and  peaceable,  and  gentle  crowd  it  is  !  I 
haven't  witnessed  a  rudeness,  or  even  an 
unkindness,  since  I've  been  here,  and  no- 
body looks  as  if  anything  stronger  than 
apollinaris  had  passed  his  lips  for  a  fort- 
night. They  seem,  the  vast  majority  of 
them,  to  pass  their  time  in  the  Fair  City, 
and  I  wish  I  could  flatter  myself  that 
they  preferred  it,  as  you  wish  me  to 
think  you  do,  to  the  Plaisance.  Perhaps 


LETTERS  OF  AN  ALTRURIAN  TRAVELLER. 


227 


they  are  really  more  interested  in  the 
mechanical  arts,  and  even  the  fine  arts, 
than  they  are  in  the  muscle  dances,  but 
I'm  afraid  it's  partly  because  there  isn't 
an  additional  charge  for  admission  to 
those  improving  exhibits  in-  the  official 
buildings.  Though  I  dare  say  that  most 
of  the  hardhanded  folks  here,  are  really 
concerned  in  transportation  and  agricul- 
tural implements  to  a  degree  that  it  is 
difficult  for  their  more  cultivated  fellow- 
countrymen  to  conceive  of.  Then,  the 
merely  instructive  and  historical  features 
must  have  an  incredible  lot  to  say  to 
them.  We  people  who  have  had  advan- 
tages, as  we  call  them,  can't  begin  to 
understand  the  state  that  most  of  us  come 
here  in,  the  state  of  enlightened  ignor- 
ance, as  one  may  call  it,  when  we  know 
how  little  we  know,  and  are  anxious  to 
know  more.  But  I  congratulate  you, 
Homos,  on  the  opportunity  you  have  to 
learn  America  personally,  here;  you 
won't  easily  have  such  another  chance. 
I'm  glad  for  your  sake,  too,  that  it  (the 
crowd)  is  mainly  a  western  and  south- 
western crowd,  a  Mississippi  Valley 
crowd.  You  can  tell  it  by  their  accent. 
It's  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  New 
England  has  a  monopoly  of  the  habit 
of  speaking  through  the  nose.  We  may 
have  invented  it,  but  we  have  imparted 
it  apparently  to  the  whole  west,  as  the 
Scotch -Irish  of  Pennsylvania  have  lent 
the  twist  of  their  "  r, "  and  the  com- 
bined result  is  something  frightful.  But 
it's  the  only  frightful  thing  about  the 
westerners,  as  I  find  them  here.  Their 
fashions  are  not  the  latest,  but  they  are 


not  only  well  behaved,  they  are  on  the 
average  pretty  well  dressed,  as  the  cloth- 
ing store  and  the  paper  pattern  dress  our 
people.  And  they  look  pathetically 
good  !  When  I  think  how  hard-worked 
they  all  are,  and  what  lonely  lives  most 
of  them  live  on  their  solitary  farms,  I 
wonder  they  don't  descend  upon  me  with 
the  whoop ^of  savages.  You're  very  fond 
of  equality,  my  dear  Homos !  How  do  you 
like  the  equality  of  the  American'effect 
here?  It's  a  vast  level,  as  unbroken  as 
the  plains  that  seemed  to  widen  as  I 
came  over  them  in  the  cars  to  Chicago, 
and  that  go  widening  on,  I  suppose,  to 
the  sunset  itself.  I  won't  speaK  of  the 
people,  but  I  will  say  the  plains  were 
dreary." 

"  Yes,"  I  assented,  for  those  plains  had 
made  me  melancholy,  too.  They  looked 
so  habitable,  and  they  were  so  solitary, 
though  I  could  see  that  they  were  broken 
by  the  lines  of  cultivated  fields,  which 
were  being  plowed  for  wheat,  or  were  left 
standing  with  their  interminable  ranks 
of  maize.  From  time  to  time  one  caught 
sight  of  a  forlorn  farmstead,  with  a  wind- 
mill beside  it,  making  helpless  play  with 
its  vanes  as  if  it  were  vainly  struggling 
to  take  flight  from  the  monotonous  land- 
scape. There  was  n'othing  of  the  cheer- 
fulness of  our  Altrurian  farm  villages  ; 
and  I  could  understand  how  a  dull  uni- 
formity of  the  human  type  might  resxilt 
from  such  an  environment,  as  the  banker 
intimated. 

I  have  made  some  attempts,  here,  to  get 
upon  speaking  terms  with  these  aver- 
age people,  but  I  have  not  found  them 


228 


LETTERS  OF  AN  ALTRURIAN   TRAVELLER. 


conversible.  Very  likely  they  distrusted 
my  advances,  from  the  warnings  given 
them  to  beware  of  imposters  and  thieves 
at  the  Fair ;  it  is  one  of  the  necessities  of 
daily  life  in  a  competitive  civilization, 
that  you  must  be  on  your  guard  against 
strangers  lest  they  cheat  or  rob  you.  It 
is  hard  for  me  to  understand  this,  coming 
from  a  land  where  there  is  no  theft  and 
can  be  none,  because  there  is  no  private 
property,  and  I  have  often  bruised  my- 
self* to  no  purpose  in  attempting  the  ac- 
quaintance of  my  fellow-visitors  of  the 
Fair.  They  never  make  any  attempt  at 
mine  ;  no  one  has  asked  me  a  favor,  here, 
or  even  a  question  ;  but  each  remains 
bent,  in  an  intense  preoccupation,  upon 
seeing  the  most  he  can  in  the  shortest 
time  for  the  least  money.  Of  course, 
there  are  many  of  the  more  cultivated  vis- 
itors, who  are  more  responsive,  and  who 
show  themselves  at  least  interested  in 
me  as  a  fellow-stranger ;  but  these,  though 
they  are  positively  many,  are,  after  all, 
relatively  few.  The  vast  bulk,  the  massed 
members  of  that  immense  equality  which 
fatigued  my  friend,  the  banker,  by  its 
mere  aspect,  were  shy  of  me,  and  I  do  not 
feel  that  I  came  to  know  any  of  them  per- 
sonally. They  strolled  singly,  or  in  pairs, 
or  by  family  groups,  up  and  down  the 
streets  of  the  Fair  City,  or  the  noisy 
thoroughfare  of  the  Plaisance,  or  through 
the  different  buildings,  quiescent,  patient, 
inoffensive,  but  reserved  and  inapproach- 
able, as  far  as  I  was  concerned.  If  they 
wished  to  know  anything  they  asked  the 
guards,  who  never  failed  in  their  duty  of 
answering  them  fully  and  pleasant!}'. 
The  people  from  the  different  states  vis- 
ited their  several  State  buildings,  and 
seemed  to  be  at  home,  there,  with  that 
instinctive  sense  of  ownership  which 
every  one  feels  in  a  public  edifice,  and 
which  is  never  tainted  with  the  greedy 
wish  to  keep  others  out.  They  sat  in 
long  rows  on  the 


benches  that  lined  the  avenues,  munch- 
ing the  victuals  they  had  mostly  brought 
with  them  in  the  lunch-boxes  which 
strewed  the  place  at  nightfall,  and  were 
gathered  up  by  thousands  in  the  policing 
of  the  grounds.  If  they  were  very  luxu- 
rious, they  went  to  the  tables  of  those 
eating-houses  where,  if  they  ordered  a  cup 
of  tea  or  coffee,  they  could  spread  out  the 
repast  from  their  boxes  and  enjoy  it  more 
at  their  ease.  But  in  none  of  these  places 
did  I  see  any  hilarity  in  them,  and 
whether  they  thought  it  unseemly  or  not  to 
show  any  gayety ,  they  showed  none.  They 
were  peacefully  content  within  the  limits 
of  their  equality,  and  where  it  ended,  as 
from  time  to  time  it  must,  they  betrayed 
no  discontent.  That  is. what  always  as- 
tonishes me  in  America.  The  man  of  the 
harder  lot  accepts  it  unmurmuringly  and 
with  no  apparent  sense  of  injustice  in  the 
easier  lot  of  another.  He  suffers  himself, 
without  a  word,  to  be  worse  housed,  worse 
clad,  worse  fed,  than  his  merely  luckier 
brother,  who  could  give  him  no  reason 
for  his  better  fortune  that  an  Altrurian 
would  hold  valid.  Here,  at  the  Fair,  for 
example,  on  the  days  when  the  German 
village  is  open  to  the  crowd  without 
charge,  the  crowd  streams  through  with- 
out an  envious  glance  at  the  people  dining 
richly  and  expensively  at  the  restaurants, 
with  no  greater  right  than  the  others  have 
to  feed  poorly  and  cheaply  from  their 
paper  boxes.  In  the  Plaisance,  weary  old 
farmwives  and  delicate  women  of  the  arti- 
san class  make  way  uncomplainingly  for 
the  ladies  and  gentlemen  who  can  afford 
to  hire  wheeled  chairs.  As  meekly  and 
quietly  they  loiter  by  the  shores  of  the 
lagoon  and  watch  those  who  can  pay  to 
float  upon  their  waters  in  the  gondolas 
and  electric  launches.  Everywhere  the 
economic  inequality 
is  as  passively  ac- 
cepted  as  if  it  were  a 


LETTERS  OF  AN  ALTRURIAN  TRAVELLER. 


229 


title  in 
of   Eu- 
if  one  of 
nomically 
were   told 


inferior 
that  he 


natural  inequality,  like  difference 
in  height  or  strength,  or  as  if  it 
were  something  of 
immemorial    privi- 
lege, like  birth  and 
the  feudal  countries 
rope.    Yet, 
these    eco- 
Americans 
was  not  the 

d£MWK 

peer  of  any  and  ev- 
ery other    Ameri- 
can, he  would  re- 
sent it  as  the  grossest  insult, 
such  is  the  power  of  the  invet- 
erate political  illusion  in  which 
the  nation  has  been  bred. 

The  banker  and  I  sat  long  over  our  sup- 
per, in  the  graveled  court  of  Old  Vienna, 
talking  of  these  things,  and  enjoying  a  bot- 
tle of  delicate  Rhenish  wine  under  the  mild 
September  moon,  not  quite  put  out  of 
countenance  by  the  electric  lamps.  The 
gay  parties  about  us  broke  up  one  after 
another,  till  we  were  left  almost  alone,  and 
the  watchman  in  his  mediaeval  dress,  with 
a  halberd  in  one  hand,  and  a  lantern  in  the 
other,  came  round  to  call  the  hour  for  the 
last  time.  Then  my  friend  beckoned  to 
the  waiter  for  the  account,  and  while  the 
man  stood  figuring  it  up,  the  banker  said 
to  me :  "  Well,  you  must  come  to  Boston  a 
hundred  years  hence,  to  the  next  Colum- 
bian Fair,  and  we  will  show  you  every 
body  trundled  about  and  fed  at  the  pub- 
lic expense.  I  suppose  that's  what  you 
would  like  to  see  ?  " 

"  It  is  what  we  always  see  in  Altruria," 
I  answered.  "I  haven't  the  least  doubt 
it  will  be  so  with  you  in  much  less  than 
a  hundred  years." 

The  banker  was  looking  at  the  account 
the  waiter  handed  him.  He  broke  into  an 
absent  laugh,  and  then  said  to  me,  "  I  beg 
your  pardon  !  You  were  saying  ?" 

"  Oh,  nothing,"  I  answered,  and  then, 
as  he  took  out  his  pocket-book  to  pay,  he 
laid  the  bill  on  the  table,  and  I  could  not 
help  seeing  what  our  little  supper  had 
cost  him.  It  was  twelve  dollars  ;  and  I 
was  breathless  ;  it  seemed  to  me  that  two 
would  have  been  richly  enough. 

"  They  give  you  a  good  meal  here, 
don't  you  think  ?"  he  said.  "But  the 
worst  of  having  dined  or  supped  well  is 
reflecting  that  if  you  hadn't  you  could 
have  given  ten  or  twelve  fellows,  who 


will  have  to  go  to  bed  supperless,  a  hand- 
some surfeit ;  that  you  could  have  bought 
twenty-five  hungry  men  a  full  meal  each; 
that  you  could  have  supplied  forty-eight 
with  plenty  ;  that  you  could  have  relieved 
the  famine  of  a  hundred  and  twenty-four. 
But  what  is  the  use  ?  If  you  think  of 
these  things  you  have  no  peace  of  your 
life!" 

I  could  not  help  answering,  "  We  don't 
have  to  think  of  them  in  Altruria." 

"  Ah,  I  dare  say,"  answered  the  ba"hk- 
er,  as  he  tossed  the  waiter 
a  dollar,  and  we  rose  and 
strolled  out  ifito  the  Plais- 
'If  all  men  were  un- 
selfish,    I 
should  agree 
with  you 
that  Altru- 
rianism  was 

best. ' ' 
~aas£& 
"You  can't 

have  unself- 
ishness   till 
you  have  Al- 
trurianism,"    I    re- 
turned.    "  You  can't 
put  the  cart  before  the 
horse." 

"  Oh,  yes,  we  can,"  he 
returned  in  his  tone  of 
banter.  "We  always  put 
the  cart  before  the  horse  in 
America,  so  that  the  horse 
can  see  where  the  cart  is 
going." 

We  strolled  up  and  down 
the  Plaisance,  where  the 
crowd  had  thinned  to  a  few 
stragglers  like  ourselves. 
Most  of  the  show  villages 
were  silenced  for  the  night. 
The  sob  of  the  Javanese  wa- 
ter-wheel was  hushed  ;  even 
the  hubbub  of  the  Chinese 
theater  had  ceased.  The  Sa- 
moans  slept  in  their  stucco 
huts;  the  Bedouins  were 


230 


LETTERS  OF  AN  ALTRURIAN  TRAVELLER. 


folded  to  slumber  in  their  black  tents. 
The  great  Ferris  wheel  hung  motionless 
with  its  lamps  like  a  planetary  circle  of 
fire  in  the  sky.  It  was  a  moment  that 
invited  to  musing,  that  made  a  tacit  com- 
panionship precious.  By  an  impulse  to 
which  my  own  feeling  instantly  responded, 
my  friend  passed  his  arm  through  mine. 

"Don't  let  us  go  home  at  all  !  Let  us 
go  over  and  sleep  in  the  peristyle.  I 
have  never  slept  in  a  peristyle,  and  I 
have  a  fancy  for  trying  it.  Now,  don't 
tell  me  j^ou  always  sleep  in  peristyles  in 
Altruria ! ' ' 

I  answered  that  we  did  not  habitually, 
at  least,  and  he  professed  that  this  was 
some  comfort  to  him  ;  and  then  he  went 
on  to  talk  more  seriously  about  the  Fair, 
and  the  effect  that  it  must  have  upon  Am- 
erican civilization.  He  said  that  he  hoped 
for  an  aesthetic  effect  from  it,  rather  than 
any  fresh  impulse  in  material  enterprise, 
which  he  thought  the  country  did  not 
need.  It  had  inventions  enough,  mill- 
ionaires enough,  prosperity  enough;  the 
great  mass  of  the  people  lived  as  well  and 
travelled  as  swiftly  as  they  could  desire. 
Now  what  they  needed  was  some  standard 
of  taste,  and  this  was  what  the  Fair  City 
would  give  them.  He  thought  that  it 
would  at  once  have  a  great  influence  upon 
architecture,  and  sober  and  refine  the  art- 
ists who  were  to  house  the  people;  and 
that  one  might  expect  to  see  everywhere 
a  return  to  the  simplicity  and  beauty  of 
the  classic  forms,  after  so  much  mere 
wandering  and  maundering  in  design, 
without  authority  or  authenticity. 

I  heartily  agreed  with  him  in  condemn- 
ing the  most  that  had  yet  been  done  in 
architecture  in  America,  but  I  tried  to 
make  him  observe  that  the  simplicity  of 
Greek  architecture  came  out  of  the  sim- 
plicity of  Greek  life,  and  the  preference 
given  in  the  Greek  state  to  the  intellectual 
over  the  industrial,  to  art  over  business. 
I  pointed  out  that  until  there  was  some  en- 
lightened municipal  or  national  control  of 
the  matter,  no  excellence  of  example  could 
avail,  butthattheclassicismofthe  Fair  City 
would  become,  among  a  wilful  and  undis- 
ciplined people,  a  fad  with  the  rich  and  a 
folly  with  the  poor,  and  not  a  real  taste 
with  either  class.  I  explained  how  with  us 
the  state  absolutely  forbade  any  man  to 
aggrieve  or  insult  the  rest  by  the  exhibi- 
tion of  hisignorance  in  the  exterior  of  his 


dwelling,  and  how  finally  architecture  had 
become  a  government  function,  and  fit 
dwellings  were  provided  for  all  by  artists 
who  approved  themselves  to  the  public 
criticism.  I  ventured  so  far  as  to  say 
that  the  whole  competitive  world,  with 
the  exception  of  a  few  artists,  had  indeed 
lost  the  sense  of  beauty,  and  I  even  added 
that  the  Americans  as  a  people  seemed 
never  to  have  had  it  at  all. 

He  was  not  offended,  as  I  had  feared  he 
might  be,  but  asked  me  with  perfect  good 
nature  what  I  meant. 

"Why,  I  mean  that  the  Americans 
came  into  the  world  too  late  to  have 
inherited  that  influence  from  the  antique 
world  which  was  lost  even  in  Europe, 
when  in  mediaeval  times  the  picturesque 
barbarously  substituted  itself  for  the 
beautiful,  and  a  feeling  for  the  quaint 
grew  up  in  place  of  love  for  the  perfect.  ' ' 

"  I  don't  understand,  quite,"  he  said, 
but  I'm  interested.  Go  on  !  " 

"Why,"  I  went  on,  "I  have  heard 
people  rave  over  the  beauty  of  the  Fair 
City,  and  then  go  and  rave  over  the  beauty 
of  the  German  village,  or  of  Old  Vienna, 
in  the  Plaisance.  They  were  cultivated 
people,  too  ;  but  they  did  not  seem  to 
know  that  the  reproduction  of  a  feudal 
castle  or  of  a  street  in  the  taste  of  the 
middle  ages,  could  not  be  beautiful,  and 
could  at  the  best  be  only  picturesque. 
Old  Vienna  is  no  more  beautiful  than  the 
Javanese  village,  and  the  German  village 
outrivals  the  Samoan  village  only  in  its 
greater  adaptability  to  the  purposes  of  the 
painter.  There  is  in  your  modern  com- 
petitive world  very  little  beauty  anywhere, 
but  there  is  an  abundance  of  picturesque- 
ness,  of  forms  that  may  be  reflected  upon 
canvas,  and  impart  the  charm  of  their 
wild  irregularity  to  all  who  look  at  the 
picture,  though  many  who  enjoy  it  there 
would  fail  of  it  in  a  study  of  the  original. 
I  will  go  so  far  as  to  say  that  there  are 
points  in  New  York,  intrinsically  so 
hideous  that  it  makes  me  shudder  to 
recall  them — " 

"  Don' 7  recall  them  ! "  he  pledded. 

"Which  would  be  much  more  capable 
of  pictorial  treatment  than  the  Fair 
City,  here,"  I  continued.  We  had  in 
fact  got  back  to  the  Court  of  Honor,  in 
the  course  of  our  talk,  which  I  have  only 
.sketched  here  in  the  meagerest  abstract. 
The  incandescent  lamps  had  been 


LETTERS  OF  AN  ALTRURIAN   TRAVELLER. 


231 


A  CORNER  OF  THE  AGRICULTURAL   BUILDING. 


quenched,  and  the  arc-lights  below  and 
the  moon  above  flooded  the  place  with 
one  silver,  and  the  absence  of  the  crowds 
that  had  earlier  thronged  it,  left  it  to  a 
solitude  indescribably  solemn  and  sweet. 
In  that  light,  it  was  like  a  ghost  of  the 
antique  world  witnessing  a  loveliness  lost 
to  modern  times  everywhere  but  in  our 
own  happy  country. 

I  felt  that  silence  would  have  been  a  fit- 
ter tribute  to  it  than  any  words  of  mine, 
but  my  companion  prompted  me  with  an 
eager,  "Well  !  "  and  I  went  on. 

"This  beauty  that  W3  see  here  is  not 
at  all  picturesque.  If  a  painter  were  to 
attempt  to  treat  it  picturesquely,  he  must 
abandon  it  in  despair,  because  the  charm 
of  the  picturesque  is  in  irregularity,  and 
the  charm  of  the  beautiful  is  in  sym- 
metry, in  just  proportion,  in  equality. 
You  Americans  do  not  see  that  the  work 
of  man,  who  is  the  crown  of  animate  life, 
can  only  be  beautiful  as  it  approaches  the 
regularity  expressive  of  beauty  in  that  life. 
Any  breathing  thing  that  wants  perfect 
balance  of  form  or  feature  is  in  so  far  ulgy ; 
it  is  offensive  and  ridiculous,  just  as  a  per- 
fectly balanced  tree  or  hill  would  be. 
Nature  is  picturesque,  but  what  man 
creates  should  be  beautiful,  or  else  it  is 


inferior.  Since  the  Greeks,  no  people 
have  divined  this  but  the  Altrurians,  until 
now;  and  I  do  not  believe  that  you  would 
have  begun  to  guess  at  it  as  you  certainly 
have  here,  but  for  the  spread  of  our  ideas 
among  you,  and  I  do  not  believe  this  exam- 
ple will  have  any  lasting  effect  with  you 
unless  you  become  Altrurianized.  The 
highest  quality  of  beauty  is  a  spiritual 
quality." 

"  I  don't  know  precisely  how  far  I 
have  followed  you,"  said  my  companion, 
who  seemed  struck  by  a  novelty  in 
truisms  which  are  so  trite  with  us,  "but 
I  certainly  feel  that  there  is  something  in 
what  you  say.  You  are  probably  right  in 
your  notion  that  the  highest  quality  of 
beaut}'  is  a  spiritual  quality,  and  I  should 
like  very  much  to  know  what  you  think 
that  spiritual  quality  is  here." 

"The  quality  of  self-sacrif  .e  in  the 
capitalists  who  gave  their  money,  and  in 
the  artists  who  gave  their  talent  without 
hope  of  material  return,  but  only  for 
the  pleasure  of  authorizing  and  creating 
beauty  that  shall  last  forever  in  the  mem- 
ory of  those  it  has  delighted." 

The  banker    smiled    compassionately. 

"  Ah,  my  dear  fellow,  you  must  realize 
that  this  was  only  a  spurt.  It  could  be 


232 


ONE  FATHERLAND. 


done  once,  but  it  couldn't  be  kept  up." 

"Why  not?"  I  asked. 

"  Because  people  have  got  to  live,  even 
capitalists  and  artists  have  got  to  live, 
and  they  couldn't  live  by  giving  away 
wealth  and  giving  away  work,  in  our 
conditions." 

"  But  you  will  change  the  conditions  !" 

"I  doubt  it,"  said  the  banker  with 
another  laugh.  One  of  the  Columbian 
guards  passed  near  us,  and  faltered  a  lit- 
tle in  his  walk.  "  Do  you  want  us  to  go 
out?"  asked  my  friend. 

"No,"  the  young  fellow  hesitated.  "Oh 
no  !  "  and  he  continued  his  round. 

"  He  hadn't  the  heart  to  turn  us  out," 
said  the  banker,  "  he  would  hate  so  to  be 
turned  out  himself.  I  wonder  what  will 
become  of  all  the  poor  fellows  who  are 
concerned  in  the  government  of  the  Fair 
City  when  they  have  to  return  to  earth  ! 
It  will  be  rough  on  them."  He  lifted  his 
head,  and  cast  one  long  look  upon  the 
miracle  about  us.  "  Good  heavens  !"  he 
broke  out,  "And  when  they  shut  up  shop, 


here,  will  all  this  beauty  have  to  be  de- 
stroyed, this  fabric  of  a  vision  demol- 
ished ?  It  would  be  infamous,  it  would  be 
sacrilegious  !  I  have  heard  some  talk  of 
their  burning  it,  as  the  easiest  way,  the 
only  way  of  getting  rid  of  it.  But  it 
musn't  be,  it  can't  be." 

"No,  it  can't  be,"  I  responded  fer- 
vently. "It  may  be  rapt  from  sight  in 
the  flames  like  the  prophet  in  his  char- 
iot of  fire  ;  but  it  will  remain  still  in  the 
hearts  of  your  great  people.  An  immor- 
tal principle,  higher  than  use,  higher 
even  than  beauty,  is  expressed  in  it,  and 
the  time  will  come  when  they  will  look 
back  upon  it,  and  recognize  in  it  the  first 
embodiment  of  the  Altrurian  idea  among 
them,  and  will  cherish  it  forever  in  their 
history,  as  the  earliest  achievement  of 
a  real  civic  life." 

I  believe  this,  my  dear  Cyril,  and  I 
leave  it  with  you  as  my  final  word  con- 
cerning the  great  Columbian  Fair. 
Yours  in  all  brotherly  affection, 
A.  HOMOS. 


ONE   FATHERLAND. 
FOR  THE  WORLD'S  RELIGIOUS  PARLIAMENT. 


BY  CHARLOTTE  FISKE  BATES. 


FLAGS  of  all   nations  waving  to   and   fro, 

Leave  God's  blue  cloud-flag  floating   far  above: 
From  One,  we  all  have  come;  to  One  we  go, 
Whose  "banner  over  all  of  us,  is  Love." 


IN  THE  YEAR  OF  THE  FAIR. 

BY  WALTEK  BESANT. 
II. 

WHEN  a  man  has  received  kind- 
nesses unexpected  and  recogni- 
tion unlocked  for  from  strangers  and 
people  in  a  foreign  country  on  whom  he 
had  no  kind  of  claim,  it  seems  a  mean  and 
pitiful  thing  in  that  man  to  sit  down  in 
cold  blood  and  pick  out  the  faults  and  im- 
perfections, if  he  can  descry  any,  in  that 
country.  The  "cad  with  a  kodak" — where  did  I  find 
that  happy  collocation  ? — is  to  be  found  everywhere  ;  that 
is  quite  certain  ;  every  traveller,  as  is  well  known,  feels 
himself  justified  after  six  weeks  of  a  country  to  sit  in 
judgment  upon  that  country  and  its  institutions,  its  man- 
ners, its  customs  and  its  society;  he  constitutes  himself 
an  authority  upon  that  country  for  the  rest  of  his  life. 
Do  we  not  know  the  man  who  "  has  been  there  ?  "  Lord 
Palmerston  knew  him.  "Beware,"  he  used  to  say  "of 
the  man  who  has  been  there  ! ' '  As  Secretary  of  State 
for  Foreign  Affairs  he  was  privileged  to  make  quite  a 
circle  of  acquaintance  with  the  men  who  ' '  had  been 
there; ' '  and  he  estimated  their  experience  at  its  true  value. 
The  man  who  has  been  there  very  seldom  speaks  its  language  with  so  much  ease 
as  to  understand  all  classes  ;  he  has  therefore  no  real  chance  of  seeing  and  un- 
derstanding things  otherwise  than  as  they  seem.  When  an  Englishman  travels  in 
America,  however,  he  can  speak  the  language.  Therefore,  he 
thinks  that  he  really  does  understand  the  things  he  sees.  Does 
he?  Let  us  consider.  To  understand  the  true  meaning  of 
things  in  any  strange,  land  is  not  to  see  certain  things  by  them- 
selves, but  to  be  able  to  see  them  in  their  relation  to  other 
things.  Thus,  the  question  of  price  must  be  taken  with  the 
question  of  wage  ;  that  of  supply  with  that  of  demand  ;  that  of 
things  done  with  the  national  opinion  on  such  things  ;  that  of 
the  continued  existence  of  certain  recognized  evils  with  the  con- 
ditions and  exigencies  of  the  time;  and  so  on.  Before  an  ob- 
server can  understand  the  relative  value  of  this  or  that  he  must 
make  a  long  and  sometimes  a  profound  study  into  the  history 
of  the  country,  the  growth  of  the  people,  and  the  present 
condition  of  the  country.  It  is  obvious  that  it  is  given  to  very 
few  visitors  to  conduct  such  an  investigation.  Most  of  them 
have  no  time  ;  very,  very  few  have  the  intellectual  grasp  neces- 
sary for  an  undertaking  of  this  magnitude.  It  is  obvious,  there- 
fore, that  the  criticism  of  a  two  months'  traveller  must  be  worth- 
less generally,  and  impertinent  almost  always.  The  kodak,  you 
see,  in  the  hands  of  the  cad,  produces  mischievous  and  mislead- 
ing pictures. 


234 


AMERICAN  NOTES. 


Let  us  take  one  or  two  familiar  in- 
stances of  the  dangers  of  hasty  objection. 
Nothing  worries  the  average  American 
visitor  to  Great  Britain  more  than  the 
House  of  Lords,  and,  generally,  the  na- 
tional distinctions.  He  sees  very  plainly 
that  the  House  of  Lords  no  longer  rep- 
resents an  aristocracy  of  ancient  descent, 
because  by  far  the  greater  number  of 
peers  belong  to  modern  creations  and  new 
families,  chiefly  of  the  trading  class ;  that 
it  no  longer  represents  the  men  of  whom 
the  country  has  most  reason  to  be  proud, 
because  out  of  the  whole  domain  of 
science,  letters  and  art  there  have  been 
but  two  creations  in  the  whole  history  of 
the  peerage.  He  sees,  also,  that  an  En- 
glishman has,  apparently,  only  to  make 
enough  money  in  order  to  command  a 
peerage  for  himself,  and  the  elevation  to 
a  separate  caste  of  himself  and  his  chil- 
dren forever.  Again,  as  regards  the  lower 
distinctions,  he  perceives  that  they  are 
given  for  this  reason  and  for  that  reason  ; 
but  that  he  knows  nothing  at  all  of  the 
services  rendered  to  the  State  by  the 
dozens  of  knights  made  every  year,  but, 
which  he  can  see  very  well,  that  the  men 
of  real  distinction,  whom  he  does  know, 
never  get  any  distinctions  at  all.  These 
difficulties  perplex  and  irritate  him.  Prob- 
ably he  goes  home  with  a  hasty  general- 
ization. 

But  the  answer  to  these  objections  is 
not  difficult.  Without  posing  as  a  cham- 
pion of  the  House  of  Lords,  one  may 
point  out  that  it  is  a  very  ancient  and 
deep-rooted  institution  ;  that  to  pull  it  up 
would  cost  an  immense  deal  of  trouble  ; 
that  it  gives  us  a  sec- 
ond or  upper  house, 
quite  free  from  the  ac- 
knowledged dangers 
of  popular  election ; 
that  the  lords  have 
long  ceased  to  op- 
pose themselves  to 
changes  once  clearly 
and  unmistakably  de- 
manded by  the  nation  ; 
that  the  hereditary 
powers  actually  exer- 
cised by  the  very  small 
number  of  peers  who 
sit  in  the  House  do 
give  us  an  average  ex- 

THR  MAN    WHO  HAS  ,    .,    ...  ,., 

BEEN  THERE.  hibition  of  brain  power 


quite  equal  to  that  found  in  the  House 
of  Commons,  in  which  are  the  six  hun- 
dred chosen  delegates  of  the  people  ;  that, 
as  regards  the  elevation  of  rich  men,  a 
poor  man  cannot  well  accept  a  peerage, 
because  custom  does  not  permit  a  peer 
to  work  for  his  livelihood ;  that  it  is 
necessary  to  create  new  peers  continu- 
ally, in  order  to  keep  as  close  a  connec- 
tion as  possible  between  the  Lords  and 
the  Commons  :  e.  g.,  if  a  peer  has  a  hun- 
dred brothers,  sisters,  sons,  daughters, 
cousins,  they  are  all  commoners  and  he  is 
the  one  peer,  so  that  for  six  hundred  peers 
there  may  be  a  hundred  thousand  people 
closely  allied  to  the  House  of  Lords. 
Again,  as  to  the  habitual  contempt  with 
which  the  advisers  of  the  crown  pass  over 
the  men  who  by  their  science,  art  and 
literature  bring  honor  upon  their  genera- 
tion, the  answer  is,  that  when  the  news- 
paper press  thinks  fit  to  take  up  the  sub- 
ject and  becomes  as  jealous  over  the 
national  distinctions  as  they  are  now  over 
the  national  finances,  the  thing  will  get 
itself  righted.  And  not  till  then.  I  in- 
stance this  point  and  these  objections 
as  illustrating  what  is  often  said,  and 
thought,  by  American  visitors  who  record 
their  first  impressions. 

The  same  kind  of  danger,  of  course, 
awaits  the  English  traveller  in  America. 
If  he  is  an  unwise  traveller,  he  will  note, 
for  admiring  or  indignant  quotation,  many 
a  thing  which  the  wise  traveller  notes 
only  with  a  query  and  the  intention  of 
finding  out,  if  he  can,  what  it  means  or 
why  it  is  permitted.  The  first  questions, 
in  fact,  for  the  student  of  manners  and 
laws  are  why  a  thing  is  permitted,  encour- 
aged, or  practiced  ;  how  the  thing  in  con- 
sideration affects  the  people  who  practice 
it,  and  how  they  regard  it.  Thus,  to  go 
back  to  ancient  history,  English  people, 
forty  years  ago,  could  not  understand  how 
slavery  was  allowed  to  continue  in  the 
States.  We  ourselves  had  virtuously  given 
freedom  to  all  our  slaves  ;  why  should  not 
the  Americans?  We  had  not  grown  up 
under  the  institution,  you  see ;  we  had 
little  personal  knowledge  of  the  negro  ; 
we  believed  that,  in  spite  of  the  discour- 
aging examples  in  Ha\'ti  and  that  of  our 
own  Jamaica,  there  was  a  splendid  future 
for  the  black,  if  only  he  could  be  free  and 
educated.  Again,  none  of  our  people 
realized,  until  the  Civil  war  actually  broke 


AMERICAN  NOTES. 


235 


out,  the  enormous  magnitude  of 
the  interests  involved ;  we  had 
read  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,  and  our 
hearts  glowed  with  virtuous  indig- 
nation ;  we  could  not  understand 
the  enormous  difficulties  of  the 
question.  Finally,  we  succeeded 
in  enraging  the  South  against  us 
before  the  war  began,  because  of 
our  continual  outcry  against  slav- 


the  States,  is  generally  the  only 
drink  ;  it  is  not  common,  out  of 
the  great  cities,  to  see  claret  on 
the  table.  There  are  differences  in 
the  conduct  of  the  trains  and  in 
the  form  of  the  railway  carriages  ; 
differences  in  the  despatch  and  se- 
curing of  luggage ;  difference  in 
the  railway  whistle  ;  difference  in 
the  management  of  the  station  ; 


in  enraging  the  North   WHAT  !  CAVIL  AT   until  one  knows  the  way  about. 

THE     HOUSE    OF      ,  ...  .  . 

LORDS?  travelling  m  America  is  a  con- 

tinual trial  to  the  temper.  Until, 
for  instance,  an  understanding  of  the 
manners  and  customs  in  this  respect  has 
been  attained,  the  conveyance  of  the 
luggage  to  the  hotel  is  a  ruinous  ex- 
pense. And  unless  one  understands  the 
rough  usage  of  luggage  on  American 
lines,  there  will  be  further  trials  of  tem- 
per over  the  breakage  of  things.  In 
France  and  Italy  such  small  differences  do 
not  exasperate,  because  they  are  known 
to  exist ;  one  expects  them  ;  they  are  be- 
nighted foreigners  who  know  no  better. 
But  in  America,  where  they  speak  our 
own  language,  one  seems  to  have  a  right, 
somehow,  to  expect  that  all  the  usages 
will  be  exactly  the  same — and  they  are 
not ;  and  so  the  cad  with  the  kodak  gets 
his  chance. 

I  can  quite  understand,  even  at  this 
day,  the  making  of  a  book  which  should 
hold  up  to  ridicule  the  whole  of  a  nation 
on  account  of  these  differences.  "The 
Americans  a  great  nation?  Why,  sir,  I 
could  not  get — the  whole  time  that  I  was 
there — such  a  simple  thing  as  English 
mustard.  The  Americans  a  great  nation  ? 
Well,  sir,  all  I  can  say  is  that  their  break- 
fast in  the  Wagner  car  is  a  greasy  pre- 
tense. The  Americans  a  great  nation  ? 
They  may  be,  sir ;  but  all  I  can  say  is 
that  there  isn't  such  a  thing — that  I  could 
discover — as  an  honest  bar-parlor,  where  a 
man  can  have  his  pipe  and  his  grog  in 
con;fort."  And  so  on — the  kind  of  thing 
may  be  multiplied  indefinitely.  What 
Mrs.  Trollope  did  sixty  years  ago  might 
be  done  again. 

But,  if  I  had  the  time,  I  wrould  write 
the  companion  volume — that  of  the  Amer- 
ican in  England — in  which  it  should  be 
proved,  after  the  same  fashion,  that  this 
poor  old  country  is  in  the  last  stage  of  de- 
cay, because  we  have  compartment  car- 
riages on  the  railway  ;  no  checks  for  the 


ery  ;  and 

after   the  war  began,  by  reason 
of  our  totally  unexpected  South- 
ern sympathies.     It  is  a  curious  history 
of  wrongheadedness  and  ignorance. 

This  was  a  big  thing.  The  things  which 
the  English  traveller  in  the  States  now 
notices  are  little  things ;  as  life  is  made  up 
of  little  things,  he  is  noting  differences 
all  day  long,  because  everything  that  he 
sees  is  different.  Speech  is  different :  the 
manner  of  enunciating  the  words  is  dif- 
ferent ;  it  is  clearer,  slower,  more  gram- 
matical ;  among  the  better  sort  it  is  more 
careful  ;  it  is  even  academical.  We  En- 
glish speak  thickly,  far  back  in  the  throat, 
the  voice  choked  by  beard  and  moustache, 
and  we  speak  much  more  carelessly. 
Then  the  way  of  living  at  the  hotels  is 
different ;  the  rooms  are  much — very  much 
— better  furnished  than  would  be  found  in 
towns  of  corresponding  size  in  England  : 
e.  g.,  at  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  which 
is  not  a  large  city,  there  is  a  hotel  which 
is  most  beautifully  furnished ;  and  at 
Buffalo,  which  is  a  city  half  the  size  of 
Birmingham,  the  hotel  is  perhaps  bet- 
ter furnished  than  any  hotel  in  London. 
An  immense  menu  is  placed  before  the 
visitor  for  breakfast  and  dinner.  There 
is  an  embarrassment  of  choice.  Perhaps 
it  is  insular  prejudice  which  makes  one 
prefer  the  simple  menu,  the  limited  choice 
and  the  plain  food  of  the  English  hotels. 
At  least,  rightly  or  wrongly,  the  English 
hotels  appear  to  the  English  traveller  the 
more  comfortable.  I  return  to  the  differ- 
ences. In  the  preparation  and  the  serving 
of  food  there  are  differences — the  midday 
meal,  far  more  in  America  than  in  Eng- 
land, is  the  national  dinner.  In  most 
American  hotels  that  received  us  we  found 
the  evening  meal  called  supper — and  a 
very  inferior  spread  it  was,  compared  to 
the  one  o'clock  service.  In  the  drinks 
there  is  a  difference — the  iced  water  which 
forms  so  welcome  a  part  of  every  meal  in 


236 


AMERICAN  NOTES. 


luggage  ;  no  electric  trolleys  in  the  street ; 
at  the  hotels  no  elaborate  menu,  but  only 
a  simple  dinner  of  fish  and  roast-beef;  no 
iced  water ;  an  established  church  (the 
clergy  all  bursting  with  fatness)  ;  a  House 
of  Lords  (all  profligates),  and  a  Queen 
who  chops  off  heads  when  so  disposed. 
It  would  alsc  be  noted,  as  proving  the 
contemptible  decay  of  the  country,  that  a 
large  proportion  of  the  lower  classes  omit 
the  aspirate  ;  that  rough  holiday-makers 
laugh  and  sing  and  play  the  accordion  as 
they  take  their  trips  abroad  ;  that  the 
factor}^  girls  wear  hideous  hats  and  feath- 
ers ;  that  all  classes  drink  beer,  and  that 
men  are  often  seen  rolling  drunk  in  the 
streets.  Nor  would  the  American  travel- 
ler in  Great  Britain  fail  to  observe,  with 
the  scorn  of  a  moralist,  the  political  cor- 
ruption of  the  time  ;  he  would  hold  up  to 
the  contempt  of  the  world  the  statesman 
who  with  the  utmost  vehemence  condemns 
a  movement  one  day  which,  on  the  follow- 
ing day,  in  order  to  gain  votes  and  re- 
cover power,  he  adopts  and  with  equal 
vehemence  advocates  ;  he  would  ask  what 
can  be  the  moral  standards  of  a  country 
where  a  great  party  turns  right  round,  at 
the  bidding  of  their  leader,  and  follows 
him  like  a  flock  of  sheep,  applauding, 
voting,  advocating  as  he  bids  them  :  to- 
day, this — tomorrow,  its  opposite. 

These  things  and  more  will  be  found  in 
that  book  of  the  American  in  England 
when  it  appears.  You  see  how  small  and 
worthless  and  prejudiced  would  be  such  a 
volume.  Well,  it  is  precisely  such  a  vol- 
ume that  the  ordinary  traveller  is  capable 
of  writing.  All  the  things  that  I  have 
mentioned  are  accidentals  ;  they  are  differ- 
ences which  mean  nothing  ;  they  are  not 
essentials  ;  what  I  wish  to  show  is  that 
he  who  would  think  rightly  of  a  country 
must  disregard  the  accidentals  and  get  at 
the  essentials.  What  follows  is  my  own 
attempt — which  I  am  well  aware  must  be 
of  the  smallest  account — to  feel  my  vvay  to 
two  or  three  essentials. 

First  and  foremost,  one  essential  is  that 
the  country  is  full  of  youth.  I  have  dis- 
covered this  for  myself,  and  I  have  learned 
what  the  fact  means  and  how  it  affects  the 
country.  I  had  heard  this  said  over  and 
over  again.  It  used  to  irritate  me  to  hear 
a  monotonous  repetition  of  the  words, 
' '  Sir,  we  are  a  young  country. ' '  Young  ? 
At  least,  it  is  three  hundred  years  old  ;  nor 


was  it  till  I  had  passed  through  New  Eng- 
land, and  seen  Buffalo  and  Chicago — those 
cities  which  stand  between  the  east  and 
the  west — and  was  able  to  think  and  com- 
pare, that  I  began  to  understand  the  reality 
and  the  meaning  of  those  words,  which 
have  now  become  so  real  and  meansomuch. 
It  is  not  that  the  cities  are  new  and  the 
buildings  put  up  yesterday  ;  it  is  in  the  at- 
mosphere of  buoyancy,  elation,  self-reli- 
ance and  energy,  which  one  drinks  in 
everywhere,  that  this  sense  of  youth  is  ap- 
prehended. It  is  youth  full  of  confidence. 
Is  there  such  a  thing  anywhere  in  America 
as  poverty  or  the  fear  of  poverty  ?  I  do  not 
think  so.  Men  may  be  hard  up  or  even 
stone  broke  ;  there  are  slums  ;  there  are 
hard-worked  women  ;  but  there  is  no  gen- 
eral fear  of  poverty.  In  the  old  countries 
the  fear  of  poverty  lies  on  all  hearts  like 
lead.  To  be  sure,  such  a  fear  is  a  survival 
in  England.  In  the  last  century  the 
strokes  of  fate  were  sudden  and  heavy,  and 
a  merchant  sitting  today  in  a  place  of 
great  honor  and  repute,  an  authority  on 
change,  would  find  himself  on  the  morrow 
in  the  Marshalsea  or  the  Fleet,  a  prisoner 
for  life  ;  once  down  a  man  could  not  re- 
cover ;  he  spent  the  rest  of  his  life  in  cap- 
tivity ;  he  and  his  descendants,  to  the 
third  and  fourth  generations — for  it  was  as 
unlucky  to  be  the  son  of  a  bankrupt  as  the 
son  of  a  convict — grovelled  in  the  gutter. 
There  is  no  longer  a  Marshalsea,  or  a  Fleet 
prison  ;  but  the  dread  of  failure  survives. 
In  the  States  that  dread  seems  practically 
absent. 

Again,  youth  is  extravagant ;  spends 
with  both  hands  ;  cannot  hear  of  econ- 
omy ;  burns  the  candle  at  both  ends  ;  eats 
the  corn  while  it  is  green  ;  trades  upon 
the  future  ;  gives  bills  at  long  dates  with- 
out hesitation  ;  and  while  the  golden  flood 
rolls  past  takes  what  it  wants  and  sends 
out  its  sons  to  help  themselves.  Why 
should  youth  make  provisions  for  the 
sons  of  youth  ?  The  world  is  young ;  the 
riches  of  the  world  are  beyond  counting  ; 
they  belong  to  the  young  ;  let  us  work  ; 
let  us  spend  ;  let  us  enjoy,  for  youth  is 
the  time  for  work  and  for  enjoyment. 

In  youth,  again,  one  is  careless  about 
little  things  ;  they  will  right  themselves  : 
persons  of  the  baser  sort  pervert  the  free- 
dom of  the  country  to  their  own  uses : 
they  make  corners  and  rings  and  steal 
the  money  of  the  municipality  :  never 


AMERICAN  NOTES. 


237 


mind  ;  some  day,  when  we  have  time,  we 
will  straighten  things  out.  In  youth,  also, 
one  is  tempted  to  gallant  apparel,  bravery 
of  show,  a  defiant  bearing,  gold  and  lace 
and  color.  In  cities  this  tendency  of  youth 
is  shown  by  great  buildings  and" big  insti- 
tutions. In  youth  there  is  a  natural  exag- 
geration in  talk  :  hence  the  spread  eagle 
of  which  we  hear  so  much.  Then  every- 
thing which  belongs  to  youth  must  be 
better  —  beyond  comparison  better — than 
everything  that  belongs  to  age.  In  the 
last  century,  if  you  like,  youth  followed 
and  imitated  age ;  it  is  the  note  of  this, 
our  country,  that  youth  is  always  advanc- 
ing and  stepping  ahead  of  age.  Even  in 
the  daily  press  the  youth  of  the  country 
shows  itself.  Let  age  sit  down  and  med- 
itate ;  let  such  a  paper  as  the  London 
Times  —  that  old,  old  paper  —  give  every 
day  three  labored  and  thoughtful  essays 
written  by  scholars  and  philosophers  on 
the  topics  of  the  day.  It  is  not  for  youth 
to  ponder  over  the  meaning  and  the  ten- 
dencies of  things  ;  it  is  for  youth  to  act, 
to  make  history,  to  push  things  along ; 
therefore  let  the  papers  record  everything 
that  passes  ;  perhaps  when  the  country  is 
old,  when  the  time  comes  for  meditation, 
the  London  Times  may  be  imitated,  and 
even  a  weekly  collection  of  essays,  such 
as  the  Saturday  Review  or  the  Spectator, 
may  be  successfully  started  in  the  United 
States.  Again,  youth  is  apt  to  be  jealous 
over  its  own  pretensions.  Perhaps  this 
quality  also  might  be  illustrated  ;  but,  for 
obvious  reasons,  we  will  not  press  this 
point.  Lastly,  3'outh 
knows  nothing  of 
the  time  which  came 
immediately  before 
itself.  It  is  not  till 
comparatively  late  in 
life  that  a  man  con- 
nects his  own  genera- 
tion—his own  history 
— with  that  which 
preceded  him.  When 
does  the  history  of 
the  United  States  be- 
gin— not  for  the  man 
of  letters  or  the  pro- 
fessor of  history — but 
for  the  average  man  ? 
It  begins  when  the 
Union  begins  :  not  be- 
fore. There  is  a  very 


beautiful  and  very  noble  history  before 
the  Union.  But  it  is  shared  with  Great 
Britain.  There  is  a  period  of  gallant  and 
victorious  war — but  beside  the  colonials 
marched  King  George's  red-coats.  There 
was  a  brave  struggle  for  supremacy,  and 
the  French  were  victoriously  driven  out — 
but  it  was  by  English  fleets  and  with  the 
help  of  English  soldiers.  Therefore,  the 
average  American  mind  refuses  to  dwell 
on  this  period.  His  country  must  spring 
at  once,  full  armed  into  the  world.  His 
country  must  be  all  his  own.  He  wants 
no  history,  if  you  please,  in  which  any 
other  country  has  also  a  share. 

In  a  word,  America  seems  to  present  all 
the  possible  characteristics  of  youth.  It 
is  buoyant,  confident,  extravagant,  ardent, 
elated  and  proud.  It  lives  in  the  present. 
The  young  men  of  twenty-one  cannot 
believe  in  coming  age  ;  people  do  get  to 
fifty,  he  believes  ;  but,  for  himself,  age  is 
so  far  off  that  he  need  not  consider  it.  I 
observed  the  youthfulness  of  America  even 
in  New  England,  but  the  country  as  one 
got  farther  west  seemed  to  become  more 
youthful.  At  Chicago,  I  suppose,  no  one 
owns  to  more  than  five-and-twenty,  youth 
-is  infectious.  I  felt  myself  while  in  the 
city  much  under  that  age. 

Let  us  pass  t~.  another  point — also  an 
essential — the  flaunting  of  the  flag.  I  had 
the  honor  of  assisting  at  the  "  Sollemnia 
Academica,"  the  commencement  of  Har- 
vard on  the  28th  of  June  last.  I  believe 
that  Harvard  is  the  richest,  as  it  is  also 
the  oldest  of  American  universities  ;  it  is 
also  the  largest  in  point  of  numbers.  The 
function  was  celebrated  in  the  college 
theater ;  it  was  attended  by  the  governor 
of  the  State  with  the  lieutenant-governor 
and  his  aides-de-camp ;  there  was  a  notable 
gathering  on  the  stage  or  platform,  con- 
sisting of  the  president,  professors  and 
governors  of  the  university,  together  with 
those  men  of  distinction  whom  the  uni- 
versity proposed  to  honor  with  a  degree. 
The  floor,  or  pit,  of  the  house  was  filled 
with  the  commencing  bachelors  ;  the  gal- 
lery was  crowded  with  spectators,  chiefly 
ladies.  After  the  ceremony  we  were  in- 
vited to  assist  at  the  dinner  given  by  the 
students  to  the  president  and  a  company 
among  whom  it  was  a  distinction  for  a 
stranger  to  sit.  The  ceremony  of  confer- 
ring degrees  was  interesting  to  an  English- 
man and  a  member  of  the  older  Cam- 


238 


AMERICAN  NOTES. 


bridge,  because  it  contained  certain  points 
of  detail  which  had  certainly  been  brought 
over  by  Harvard  himself,  the  founder, 
from  the  old  to  the  new  Cambridge.  The 
dinner,  or  luncheon,  was  interesting  for 
the  speeches,  for  which  it  was  the  occas- 
ion and  the  excuse.  The  president,  for 
his  part,  reported  the  addition  of  $750,000 
to  the  wealth  of  the  college  and  called  at- 
tention to  the  very  remarkable  feature  of 
modern  American  liberality  in  the  lavish 
gifts  and  endowments  going  on  all  over 
the  States  to  colleges  and  places  of  learn- 
ing. He  said  that  it  was  unprecedented  in 
history.  With  submissions  to  the  learned 
president,  not  quite  without  precedent. 
The  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries 
witnessed  a  similiar  spirit  in  the  foun- 
dation and  endowment  of  colleges  and 
schools  in  England  and  Scotland.  About 
half  the  colleges  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge, 
and  three  out  of  the  four  Scottish  univer- 
sities belong  to  the  period.  Still,  it  is 
very  remarkable,  to  find  this  new  large- 
ness of  mind.  Since  one  has  received 
great  fortune,  let  this  wealth  be  passed  on, 
not  to  make  a  son  into  an  idle  man,  but 
to  endow,  with  the  best  gifts  of  learning 
and  science,  generation  after  generation 
of  men  born  for  work.  We  who  are  our- 
selves so  richly  endowed  and  have  been 
so  richly  endowed  for  four  hundred  years, 
have  no  need  to  envy  Harvard  all  her 
wealth.  We  may  applaud  the  spirit  which 
seeks  not  to  enrich  a  family  but  to  ad- 
vance the  nation  ;  all  the  more  because  we 
have  many  instances  of  a  similiar  spirit 
in  our  own  country.  It  is  not  the  further 
endowment  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge  that 
is  continued  by  one  rich  man,  but  the 
foundation  of  new  colleges,  art  galleries 
and  schools  of  art.  Angerstein,  Vernon, 
Alexander,  Tate, 
are  some  of  our 
benefactors  in  art. 
The  endowments 
of  Owens  college, 
the  Mason  college, 
the  Firth  college, 
University  college, 
London,  are  gifts 
of  private  persons. 
Since  we  do  not 
produce  rich  men 
so  freely  as  Anier- 
ica,  our  endow- 
AN  AMERICAN  INSTITUTION,  uients  are  neither 


so  many  nor    so    great ;  but  the  spirit 
of  endowment  is  with  us  as  well. 

Presently,  one  observed,  at  this  dinner, 
a  note  of  difference  which  afterwards  gave 
food  for  reflection.  It  was  this  :  All  the 
speakers,  one  after  the  other,  without  ex- 
ception, referred  to  the  free  institutions 
of  the  nation,  to  the  duty  of  citizens, 
and  especially  to  the  responsibilities  of 
those  who  were  destined  by  the  training 
and  education  of  this  venerable  college  to 
become  the  leaders  of  the  country.  Noth- 
ing whatever  was  said,  by  any  of  the 
speakers,  on  the  achievements  in  schol- 
arship, literature,  or  science  made  by 
former  scholars  of  the  college ;  nothing 
was  said  of  the  promise  in  learning  or 
science  of  the  3Toung  men  now  beginning 
the  world.  Now  a  year  or  so  ago,  the 
Master  and  Fellows  of  a  certain  college, 
of  the  older  Cambridge,  bade  to  a  feast 
as  many  of  the  old  members  of  that 
college  as  would  fill  the  hall.  It  was, 
of  course,  a  very  much  smaller  hall 
than  that  of  Harvard,  but  it  was  still  a 
venerable  college,  the  mother,  so  to  speak, 
of  Emmanuel,  and  therefore  the  grand- 
mother of  Harvard.  The  Master,  in  his 
speech,  after  dinner,  spoke  about  nothing 
but  the  glories  of  the  college  in  its  long 
list  of  worthies  and  the  very  remarkable 
number  of  men,  either  living  or  recently 
passed  away,  whose  work  in  the  world 
had  brought  distinction  to  themselves 
and  honor  to  the  college.  In  short,  the 
college  only  existed  in  his  mind,  and  in 
the  minds  of  those  present,  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  learning,  nor  was  there  any 
other  consideration  possible  for  him  in 
connection  with  the  college.  Is  there, 
then,  another  view  of  Harvard  college? 
There  must  be.  The  speakers  suggested 
this  new  and  American  view.  The  college, 
if  my  supposed  discovery  is  true,  is  re- 
garded as  a  place  which  is  to  furnish  the 
State,  not  with  scholars,  for  whom  there 
will  always  be  a  very  limited  demand,  but 
with  a  large  and  perennial  supply  of  men 
of  liberal  education  and  sound  principles, 
whose  chief  duty  shall  be  the  mainten- 
ance of  the  freedom  to  which  the}-  are 
born,  and  a  steady  opposition  to  the  cor- 
ruption into  which  all  free  institutions 
readily  fall  without  unceasing  watchful- 
ness. This  thing  I  advance  with  some 
hesitation.  But  it  explains  the  inflated 
patriotism  of  the  carefully  prepared  speech 


AMERICAN  NOTES. 


of  the  governor  and  the  political  (not  par- 
tisan) spirit  of  all  the  other  speakers. 
Oxford  and  Cambridge  have  long  fur- 
nished the  country  with  a  learned  clergy, 
a  learned  bar,  and  (but  this,  is  past)  a 
learned  House  of  Commons.  The  tradi- 
tion of  learning  lingers  still ;  nay — they 
are  centers  of  learning  beyond  compari- 
son with  any  other  universities  in  the 
world.  Harvard  also,  I  suppose,  provides 
a  learned  clergy  ;  but  its  principal  func- 
tion, as  its  rulers  seem  to  think,  is  to  send 
out  into  the  world  every  year  a  great  body 
of  young  men  fully  equipped  to  be  leaders 
in  the  country  ;  this  is  its  chief  glory  ;  to 
do  this  effectively,  I  take  it,  is  the  chief 
desire  of  the  president  and  the  society. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  this  is  a  very 
important  duty  ;  much  more  important, 
for  a  special  reason,  in  the  States  than  it  is 
in  Great  Britain.  I  used  to  marvel,  before 
making  these  observations,  at  the  con- 
stant flying  of  the  stars  and  stripes 
everywhere;  at  the  continual  reminding 
as  to  freedom.  "Are  there,"  one  asks, 
"no  other  countries  in  the  world  which 
are  free?  In  what  single  point  is  the 
freedom  of  the  American  greater  than  the 
freedom  of  the  Briton,  the  Canadian,  or 
the  Australian?"  In  none,  certainly. 
Yet  we  are  not  forever  v  aving  the  Union 
Jack  everywhere  and  culling  each  other 
brothers  in  our  glorious  liberty.  Well: 
but  let  us  think.  In  so  vast  a  population, 
spread  over  so  many  states,  each  State 
being  a  different  country,  there  will  al- 
ways be  ignorant  men,  men  ready  to  give 
up  everything  for  a  selfish  advantage : 
there  must  always  be  a  danger  unless  it 
be  continually  met  and  beaten  down,  that 
the  United  may  become  the  dis-United 
States.  Why,  Euro- 
pean statesmen  used 
to  look  forward  confi- 
dently to  the  disrup- 


tion of  the  States  from  the  Dec- 
laration of  Independence,  down 
to  the  Civil  war.  It  was  a  com- 
monplace that  the  country 
must  inevitably  fall  to 
pieces.  The  very  possibil- 
ity of  a  disruption  is  now 
not  even  thought  of:  the 
thing  is  never  mentioned. 
Why  is  this?  Surely,  be- 
cause the  idea  of  federation 
is  not  only  taught  and 
ground  in  at  the  element- 
ary schools,  but  because 
the  flag  ot  federation  is  al- 
ways displayed  as  the 
chief  glory  of  the  nation  at 
every  place  where  two  or 
three  Americans  are  gath- 
ered together.  The  sym- 
bol you  see  is  unmistak- 
able: it  means  Union,  once 
for  all ;  the  word,  the  idea, 
the  symbol,  it  must  be  al- 
ways kept  before  the  eyes 
of  the  people ;  it  is  in  the 
wisdom  of  the  rulers  that 
the  stars  and  stripes  are  for- 
ever flaunted  befofe  the 
eyes  of  the  people. 

And  it  is  not  only  the 
ignorant  and  the  selfish 
among  Americans  them- 
selves ;  it  is  the  vast  num- 
ber of  immigrants,  increas- 
ing by  half  a  million  every 
year,  who  have  to  be  taught 
what  citizenship  means. 
The  outward  symbol  is  the 
readiest  teacher ;  let  them 
never  forget  that  they  live 
under  the  stars  and  stripes ; 
let  them  learn  —  German, 
Norwegian,  Italian,  Irish — 


\ 


240 


AMERICAN  NOTES. 


what  it  means  to  belong  to  the  Great 
Republic.  Is  this  all  that  a  two  months' 
visitor  can  bring  awa}T  from  America?  It 
is  the  most  important  part  of  my  plunder. 
What  else  has  been  gathered  up  is  hardly 
worth  talking  about,  in  comparison  with 
these  two  discoveries  which  are,  after  all, 
perhaps  only  useful  to  myself :  the  dis- 
covery of  the  real  youthfulness  of  the 
country  and  the  discovery  of  the  real 
meaning  and  the  necessity  of  the  spread- 
eagle  speeches  and  the  flaunting  of  the 
flag  in  season  and  out  of  season.  It 
may  seem  a  small  thing  to  learn,  but  the 
lesson  has  wholly  changed  my  point  of 
view.  The  fact  is  perhaps  hardly  worth 
recording ;  it  matters  little  what  a  single 
Englishman  thinks  ;  but  if  he  can  in- 
duce others  to  think  with  him,  or  to  mod- 
ify their  views  in  the  same  direction,  it 
may  matter  a  great  deal. 

And,  of  course,  an  Englishman  must 
think  of  his  own  future — that  of  his  own 
country.  Before  many  j-ears  the  United 
Kingdom  must  inevitably  undergo  great 
changes:  the  vastness  of  the  Empire 
will  vanish ;  Canada,  Australia,  New 
Zealand,  South  Africa  will  fall  away  and 
will  become  independent  republics ;  what 
these  little  islands  will  become  then,  I 
know  not.  What  will  become  of  the 
English-speaking  races,  thus  firmly 
planted  over  the  whole  globe,  is  a  more 
important  question.  If  a  man  had  the 
voice  of  the  silver-mouthed  Father,  if  a 
man  had  the  inspiration  of  a  prophet,  it 
would  be  a  small  thing  for  that  man  to 
consecrate  and  expend  all  his  life,  all  his 
strength,  all  his  soul,  in  the  creation  of 
a  great  federation  of  English-speaking 
peoples.  There  should  be  no  war  of  tar- 
iffs between  them ;  there  should  be  no 
possibility  of  dispute  between  them ; 
there  should  be  as  many  nations  separate 
and  distinct  as  might  please  to  call  them- 


selves nations  ;  it  should  make  no  differ- 
ence whether  Canada  was  the  separate 
dominion  of  Canada,  or  a  part  of  the 
United  States  ;  it  should  make  no  differ- 
ence whether  Great  Britain  and  Ireland 
were  a  monarchy  or  a  republic.  The  one 
thing  of  importance  would  be  an  inde- 
structible alliance  for  offense  and  defense 
among  the  people  who  have  inherited  the 
best  part  of  the  whole  world.  This  alli- 
ance can  best  be  forwarded  by  a  promo- 
tion of  friendship  between  private  per- 
sons ;  by  a  constant  advocacy  in  the  press 
of  all  the  countries  concerned  ;  and  by 
the  feeling,  to  be  cultivated  everywhere, 
that  such  a  confederation  would  present 
to  the  world  the  greatest,  the  strongest, 
wealthiest,  most  highly  cultivated  con- 
federacy of  nations  that  ever  existed. 
It  would  be  permanent,  because  there 
would  be  no  war  of  aggression  of  tariffs, 
or  of  personal  quarrel ;  no  territorial  am- 
bitions ;  no  conflict  of  kings. 

Naturally,  I  was  not  called  upon  to 
speak  at  the  Harvard  dinner.  Had  I 
spoken,  I  should  like  to  have  said : 
"  Men  of  Harvard,  grandsons  of  that  be- 
nignant mother — still  young— who  sits 
crowned  with  laurels,  ever  fresh,  on  the 
sedgy  bank  of  Granta,  think  of  the  coun- 
try from  which  your  fathers  have  sprung. 
Go  out  into  the  world — your  world  of 
youthful  endeavor  and  success ;  do  3- our 
best  to  bring  the-  hearts  of  the  people 
whom  3rou  will  have  to  lead  back  to  their 
kin  across  the  seas  to  east  and  west — 
over  the  Atlantic  and  over  the  Pacific. 
Do  3rour  best  to  bring  about  the  inde- 
structible fraternit3r  of  the  whole  Eng- 
lish-speaking races.  Do  this  in  the  sacred 
name  of  that  freedom  of  which  3~ou  have 
this  day  heard  so  much,  and  of  that 
Christianit3r  to  which  b3r  the  ver3T  stamp 
and  seal  of  3'our  college  you  are  the 
avowed  and  sworn  servants.  Rah  ! ' ' 


APR  £S. 

BY  GUY  DE  MAUPASSANT. 


u  /~"*OME,  dears,"  said  the  countess, 
v_^  "  it  is  time  to  go  to  bed." 

The  two  children,  a  girl  of  eleven  and  a 
boy  of  seven,  rose  and  went  to  kiss  their 
grandmother.  Then  they  turned  to  say 
good-night  to  the  cure,  who  had  dined 
at  the  chateau,  as  was  his  wont  every 
Thursday. 

Taking  them  both  upon  his  knees,  the 


Abbe  Mauduit  encircled  their  necks  with 
his  long  arms,  clad  in  black,  and  drawing 
their  heads  gently  together,  pressed  a 
long  and  tender  kiss  upon  their  foreheads, 
as  a  father  might  have  done. 

Then  he  let  them  go,  and  the  two  little 
beings  ran  off,  the  boy  in  advance,  the 
girl  following. 

"You   are    fond  of  children,    father,1' 
said  the  countess. 
1 '  Very,  madame. ; ' 
The  old  lady  raised  her  clear 
eyes  and  fixed  them  upon  the 
priest. 

"  And    ....    has  your 


I   SAW   HIM    KNOCKED   DOWN   BY   THE    HOOFS   OF   THB   LEADERS. 


242 


APR&S. 


solitude    never    weighed    upon    you  ?  ' ' 

"Yes,  at  times." 

He  hesitated  and  was  silent  for  a  mo- 
ment ;  then  he  added  :  « '  But  I  was  not 
made  for  every-day  life." 

' '  What  do  you  know  about  it  ?  " 

"  Oh,  I  know  very  well  what  it  is.  But, 
you  see,  I  was  born  a  priest,  and  I  have 
followed  my  vocation." 

The  countess  was  still  observing  him. 

"  Come,  father,  tell  me  about  it.  Tell 
me  why  you  decided  to  renounce  all  which 
makes  us  love  life,  all  which  consoles  and 
sustains  us.  We  have  known  each  other 
twenty  years,  have  we  not  ?  Certainly  I 
can  ask  you  such  a  question.  What  im- 
pelled you,  what  led  you  to  abandon  the 
great  highway  of  marriage  and  family 
which  we  follow  so  naturally  ?  You  are 
not  an  enthusiast,  a  fanatic,  a  pessimist, 
nor  a  misanthrope.  Was  it  an  event,  or 
some  sorrow,  which  decided  you  upon 
taking  these  eternal  vows  ?  " 

The  Abb£  Mauduit  drew  his  chair  to 
the  hearth,  stretching  to  the  fire  his  feet, 
on  which  he  wore  the  coarse  shoes  of  a 
country  priest.  He  still  seemed  reluctant 
to  reply. 

He  was  a  large,  old  man,  with  white 
hair,  who  had  served  the  commune  Saint- 
Antoine-du-Rocher  for  twenty  years. 

The  peasants  used  to  say  of  him  : 

"  There's  a  fine  fellow  for  you  !  " 

He  was  indeed  such — benevolent,  kind- 
ly, sweet-tempered,  and,  above  all,  gen- 
erous. Like  Saint  Martin,  he  would  have 
divided  his  cloak  with  a  beggar.  He  was 
easily  moved  to  laughter,  and  as  easily  to 
tears,  as  a  woman  is  ;  which  injured  him 
somewhat  in  the  estimation  of  the  rough 
country  folk. 

The  old  Countess  de  Saville,  who,  after 
the  death  of  her  son  and  daughter-in-law, 
had  retired  to  the  Chateau  du  Rocher  in 
order  to  educate  her  two  grandchildren, 
was  very  fond  of  the  cure  ;  she  used  to 
say  of  him  :  "  He  has  a  heart  of  gold." 

Every  Thursday  he  came  to  spend  the' 
evening  with  her,  and  they  were  united 
by  that  sincere  and  frank  friendship  which 
belongs  to  old  age.  Only  a  word  was 
needed  for  them  to  understand  each  other 
on  almost  any  subject,  for  they  both  pos- 
sessed the  plain,  straightforward  good- 
ness of  honest  hearts. 

The  countess  insisted. 

"  Come,  father,  confess  in  your  turn." 


' '  I  was  not  made  to  live  the  life  others 
live,"  he  repeated;  "fortunately  I  dis- 
covered it  in  time,  and  I  have  often  felt 
that  in  this  respect  I  was  not  mistaken. 

"  My  parents,  well-to-do  mercers  of 
Verdiers,  were  very  ambitious  for  me. 
When  quite  young,  I  was  sent  to  a  board- 
ing-school. What  a  child  can  suffer, 
simply  from  separation  and  loneliness,  no 
one  knows  half  the  time.  This  monoto- 
nous life,  so  void  of  affection,  is  good  for 
some,  for  others  it  is  detestable.  The 
heart  of  a  child  is  often  far  more  sensitive 
than  one  thinks,  and  in  shutting  them 
off  too  early  from  those  they  love,  one 
may  develop  an  excessive  sensibility, 
which  becomes  morbid  and  dangerous. 

"  I  was  not  fond  of  games,  I  had  few 
comrades;  and  knew  many  a  homesick 
hour.  At  night,  on  my  bed,  I  used  to 
weep,  racking  my  brain  for  memories  of 
home,  insignificant  memories  of  trifling 
things  and  events.  I  dwelt  constantly  on 
all  I  had  left  there.  Little  by  little,  I  be- 
came morbidly  sensitive,  so  that  the  most 
ordinary  things  were  to  me  frightful  trials. 

"Then,  too,  I  was  taciturn,  shut  up  in 
myself,  uncommunicative  and  without 
confidants.  This  working  of  an  intro- 
spective nature  went  on  silently  and 
surely.  The  nerves  of  children  are  easily 
excited  ;  one  ought  to  see  that  they  live 
in  profound  peace,  until  their  characters 
are  almost  completely  formed.  But  who 
thinks  of  that  ?  Who  remembers  that  for 
some  boys  a  slight  punishment  may  cause 
as  much  sorrow  as  the  death  of  a  friend 
does  in  later  life  ?  Who  realizes  that  some 
young  souls  experience  terrible  emotions 
for  a  mere  nothing,  and  become  in  a  short 
time  affected  beyond  cure? 

"This  was  the  case  with  me;  the 
tendency  to  grieve  developed  in  me  to 
such  an  extent  that  my  whole  existence 
became  a  martyrdom.  I  did  not  speak  of 
it — I  said  nothing ;  but  gradually  I  be- 
came so  sensitive  that  my  heart  was  like 
an  open  wound.  Everything  which 
touched  it  caused  a  shudder  of  pain,  a  ter- 
rible quivering,  and  therefore  wrought 
real  injury. 

1 '  Happy  are  those  whom  nature  has 
protected  with  indifference  and  armed 
with  stoicism  ! 

"  I  reached  my  eighteenth  3rear.  Out 
of  this  capacity  to  suffer  sprang  an  exces- 
sive timidity.  Feeling  that  I  was  de- 


APRES. 


fenseless  before  the  attacks  of  chance  and 
destiny,  I  shrank  from  every  contact,  from 
every  approach.  I  was  always  on  the 
alert,  as  if  constantly  threatened  by  some 
unknown  but  ever-expected  misfortune. 
I  did  not  dare  to  speak  or  act  in  the  pres- 
ence of  others.  I  had  the  distinct  feeling 
that  life  was  a  battle,  a  frightful  struggle, 
in  which  terrible  blows  were  given  and 
mortal  wounds  were  received.  Instead  of 
cherishing,  as  others  do,  a  hope  for  to- 
morrow's happiness,  I  felt  only  a  confused 
fear,  the  desire  to  hide  myself,  to  avoid 
that  combat  in  which  I  was  sure  to  be  de- 
feated and  slain. 

"  My  studies  being  finished,  I  was  given 
six  months  of  vacation  in  which  to  choose 
a  profession.  A  very  trifling  circumstance 
revealed  myself  to  me,  showed  me  the 
morbid  condition  of  my  mind,  made  me 
understand  my  danger,  and  decided  me  to 
fly  from  it. 


* '  Verdiers  is  a  small  town,  surrounded  by 
wooded  plains.  The  main  street,  on  which 
my  parents  lived,  traversed  the  town  from 
one  end  to  the  other,  terminating  at  both 
extremities  in  the  open  country.  At  this 
time  I  spent  my  days  out  of  doors,  far 
from  the  home  which  I  had  so  missed  and 
desired.  My  heart  was  full  of  dreams, 
and  I  used  to  wander  in  the  fields  alone, 
to  give  them  freedom  and  flight. 

"My  father  and  mother,  immersed  in 
their  business  and  preoccupied  with  my 
future,  talked  of  nothing  but  their  sales, 
and  of  plans  for  my  future.  Matter-of- 
fact  people,  as  they  were,  with  a  practical 
turn  of  mind,  they  loved  roe  with  the 
head  rather  than  with  the  heart.  I  lived 
alone.^shut  into  my  own  thoughts,  a  prey 
to  my  own  restlessness. 

"  One  evening,  after  a  long  walk,  as  I 
was  hurrj-ing  homeward  in  order  not  to 
be  late,  I  saw  a  dog  running  towards  me. 
He  was  a  kind  of  spaniel,  thin,  of  a  red- 
dish color,  with  long,  curly  ears. 

"  When  about  ten  paces  off,  he  stopped, 
and  I  did  the  same.  Then  he  began  to 
wag  his  tail  and  to  draw  nearer,  with 
short  steps  and  timid  movements  of  the 
body,  crouching  on  his  paws  and  moving 
his  head  gently  from  side  to  side,  as  if 
imploring  my  pity.  When  I  called  him, 
he  crept  toward  me  in  so  humble,  so  piti- 
ful, so  supplicating  a  manner,  that  I  felt 


the  tears  spring  to  my  eyes.  When  I  ad- 
vanced, he  ran  away.  But  he  came  back 
again,  and  I  knelt  on  one  knee,  calling 
him  in  gentle  tones  in  order  to  give  him 
confidence.  At  last  he  came  within  reach 
of  my  hand,  and  with  infinite  precautions 
I  softly  stroked  him. 

"  Finally  he  took  courage,  rose  little  by 
little  from  his  crouching  posture,  placed 
his  paws  upon  my  shoulders,  and  began 
to  lick  my  face. 

' '  Afterwards  he  followed  me  home. 

"  This  was  really  the  first  living  thing 
which  I  loved  passionately,  for  the  reason 
that  my  affection  was  returned.  My  fond- 
ness for  this  little  animal  was  certainly 
exaggerated  and  ridiculous.  In  some  con- 
fused way,  I  felt  that  we  were  brothers, 
lost  in  the  world,  each  as  solitary  and  de- 
fenseless as  the  other.  Thereafter  he 
never  left  me,  sleeping  at  the  foot  of  my 
bed,  eating  from  the  table,  in  spite  of  the 
objections  of  my  parents,  and  following 
me  in  my  lonely  walks. 

"  I  often  stopped  beside  some  ditch,  to 
sit  down  upon  the  grass ;  and  instantly 
Sam  would  run  to  me,  lying  down  by  my 
side  or  on  my  knees,  and  lifting  my  hand 
with  his  nose  to  solicit  a  caress. 

"  One  day,  near  the  end  of  June,  as  we 
were  walking  along  the  road  to  Saint 
Pierre  de  Chavrol,  I  savt  the  diligence 
from  Raverau  approaching  It  was  com- 
ing at  a  gallop,  with  its  f^ur  horses,  its 
yellow  body,  and  black  leather  top  cover- 
ing the  outside  seats  like  a  cap.  The 
driver  was  cracking  his  whip-  and  the 
dust  rose  from  the  wheels  of  tbe  heavy 
vehicle,  floating  away  beyond  like  a  cloud. 

"  Suddenly,  just  as  it  reached  me,  Sam, 
frightened  perhaps  by  the  noise,  and  wish- 
ing to  join  me,  ran  directly  in  front  of  it. 
I  saw  him  knocked  down  by  the  hoofs  of 
the  leaders,  roll  over,  turn,  rise  and  fall 
'again  under  all  those  feet, — then  the  coach 
gave  two  quick  jolts,  and  in  the  dust  be- 
hind it  I  saw  something  quivering  on  the 
road. 

<l  He  was  almost  cut  in  two,  and  his  in- 
testines protruded,  staining  the  road  with 
blood.  He  made  an  effort  to  rise,  to  walk, 
but  he  could  only  move  his  fore-paws, 
which  scratched  the  ground  as  if  digging 
a  hole  ;  the  hind-paws  were  already  life- 
less, and,  mad  with  pain,  he  howled  ter- 
ribly. 

"  In  a  few  moments  he  was  dead. 


244 


CHICAGO  AT  REST. 


"I cannot  tell  you  how  I  felt  or  suffered. 
For  a  month  I  did  not  leave  my  room. 

"  One  evening,  my  father,  irritated  by 
my  conduct  over  such  a  trifle,  cried : 
1  What  will  you  do  when  you  have  a  real 
grief,  when  you  lose  a  wife  or  child  ?  .  .  . 
Was  ever  any  one  so  silly? ' 

1  <  From  that  day  to  this  his  words  rang 
in  my  ears  and  haunted  my  memory : 
1  What  will  you  do  when  you  have  a  real 
grief — when  you  lose  a  wife  or  child  ?  ' 

"  I  began  to  understand  myself  clearly. 
I  saw  why  all  the  little  nothings  of  every 
day  acquired  in  my  eyes  the  importance 
of  catastrophes.  I  recognized  the  fact 
that  I  was  born  with  a  capacity  for  every 
form  of  suffering,  that  I  was  doomed  by 
my  morbid  sensitiveness  to  receive  and 
exaggerate  every  painful  impression ;  and 
a  terrible  fear  of  life  laid  hold  of  me.  I 
was  without  passions,  without  ambitions, 
and  I  resolved  to  sacrifice  the  possible 
joys  reserved  for  me,  in  order  to  escape 
the  certain  sorrows.  '  Life  is  short,'  I 
said  to  myself:  '  I  will  use  it  in  the  ser- 
vice of  others,  in  relieving  their  sorrows, 
in  sharing  their  joys.  Experiencing 
neither  the  one  nor  the  other  at  first  hand, 
every  impression  will  be  dulled ;  I  shall 
know  only  their  recoil ;  they  will  reach 
me,  as  it  were,  sifted,  softened,  almost 
obliterated.' 

"  Ah  !  if  you  knew  how  human  misery 
tortures  me,  how  it  eats  into  my  soul ! 
What  would  have  been  for  me  intolerable 
suffering  has  become  compassion  and  pity. 


"  These  sorrows  with  which  I  come  in- 
to contact  every  instant  I  could  not  have 
supported,  had  they  fallen  upon  my  own 
heart.  I  could  not  have  seen  a  child  of 
mine  die,  without  dying  myself.  And, 
even  now,  I  have  such  a  vague,  yet  real 
fear  of  what  may  happen,  that  the  mere 
sight  of  the  letter-carrier  stopping  at  my 
door  makes  me  shudder  every  day, — al- 
though I  have  nothing  more  to  fear  now." 
*  *  * 

The  Abbe  Mauduit  paused.  He  gazed 
into  the  fire  of  the  great  chimney,  as  if 
seeing  mysterious  things,  all  the  unknown 
things  of  life,  which  might  have  been  his 
if  he  could  have  presented  a  bolder  front 
to  suffering. 

Then,  in  a  lower  voice  : 

"  I  was  right.  I  was  not  made  for  this 
world." 

The  countess  was  silent ;  at  last,  after 
a  long  pause,  she  said  : 

"  As  for  me,  if  I  did  not  have  my  little 
grandchildren,  I  believe  I  should  not  have 
the  courage  to  live  longer. ' ' 

The  abbe  rose,  without  replying. 

As  the  servants  were  dozing  in  the 
kitchen,  the  countess  herself  went  with 
him  to  the  door  opening  into  the  garden, 
and  watched  his  large  form,  illuminated 
by  the  light  of  the  lamp,  slowly  disappear 
in  the  night. 

Then,  returning  to  her  seat  before  the 
fire,  she  thought  of  many  things, — those 
things  of  which  one  does  not  think  when 
one  is  young. 


CHICAGO    AT    REST.— 1894. 

Bv  MARION  COUTHOUY  SMITH. 

FAIR  Genius  of  the  Lake,  sit  thou  and  rest ; 

Thy  brow  still  crowned,  thy  glorious  limbs  supine, 
While  yet  thine  eyes  with  musing  rapture  shine, 

And  the  deep  breaths  of  triumph  swell  thy  breast. 

Look  out  upon  the  wave  ;    thy  work  is  done ! 
The  might}'  nations  summoned  at  thy  call 
Clasp  hands  and  part;  thy  glittering  pageants  fall; 

This  was  thy  golden  hour:  its  sands  have  run. 

Yet  shall  the  glory  of  that  hour  be  thine 

While  the  world  stands  :   for  this — that  thou  hast  cared 
First  for  supremest  beaut}-,  and  hast  dared 

Transform  earth  s  labor  with  its  ray  divine. 

Now  peace  be  with  thee,  who  hast  wrought  so  well  ! 
And  from  far  east  and  west  this  hope  shall  be 
Sent  for  thy  future  blessing  :    That  on  thee 

God's  smile  of  beauty  may  forever  dwell  ! 


IN  THE  WORLD 

OF 
ART  AND  LETTERS 


AS  I  write  these  lines  Mr.  Zola  has  not  yet  returned  from  London,  whither  he  went 
to  represent  French  journalism  at  the  International  Press  Congress  ;  and  the 
Russian  fleet  has  not  }-et  reached  Toulon,  where  the  city  authorities  are  preparing  for 
it  a  really  magnificent  reception.  These  two  events,  though  of  very  unequal  import- 
ance, occupy  equally  all  French  imaginations.  Let  us  then  talk,  and  even,  as  is  our 
wont,  philosophize  a  bit  about  them. 

Here  some  surprise  has  been  felt  at  the  enthusiastic  greeting  given  M.  Zola  by 
our  neighbors  beyond  the  Channel.  We  were  prepared  for  kindly  demonstrations  of 
international  courtesy,  for  we  know  that  in  such  matters  the  English  are  the  most 
correct  and  polite  of  men.  What  we  did  not  expect  was  such  excess  of  feverish 
curiosity,  such  intense  admiration,  such  overflowing  sympathy.  They  naturally 
appear  singular  to  us. 

We  knew  that  M.  Zola's  works,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  novels  by  no  means 
his  best,  were  outlawed  in  England,  put  under  the  ban  of  English  prudery.  We 
knew  that  the  English  publisher  of  "l'Assommoir"  and  of  "Nana"  had  been  ruined 
by  fines,  and  had,  besides,  expiated  by  a  somewhat  prolonged  imprisonment,  what  a 
poet  calls,  "The  inexpiable  wrong  of  being  right  out  of  time."  We  could  not 
imagine  that  the  higher  English  circles  did  not  share  in  the  spirit  that  instigated 
this  condemnation  ;  we  could  not  believe  that  young  ladies  who  knew  nothing  of 
Zola  except  the  legal  penalties  inflicted  on  him,  would  be  so  delighted  to  look  upon 
the  face  of  a  writer  who  had  so  grievously  offended  against  morality. 

We  had  reckoned  without  le  snobisme.  I  am  not  sure  whether  this  word,  unques- 
tionably of  English  origin,  has  in  your  language  any  exact  equivalent.  We  call  snob 
the  man  who  goes  into  ecstasies  over  things  he  does  not  understand  or  really  enjoy  ; 
who  tries  to  attain  distinction  by  feigning,  on  the  word  of  some  competent  judges,  an 
admiration  he  does  not  feel,  an  enthusiasm  supposed  to  be  fashionable.  There  are 
people  unable  to  do  any  thinking  of  their  own,  who  yet  assume  the  airs  of  profound 
thinkers  ;  they  are  boobies  ;  people  who,  having  no  sentiment  of  their  own,  yet  grow 
frantic  over  famous  men,  are  snobs.  You  understand  now  what  le  snobisme  is. 

Well  !  I  am  somewhat  afraid  that  there  is  some  of  it  in  the  exaggerated  curiosity 
that  has  followed  the  author  of  "  l'Assommoir"  and  of  "  Nana."  Heaven  forbid  that 
I  should  complain  of  it  !  I  am  delighted  that  a  writer  of  such  talent  imposes  his 
personality  on  the  race  that  is  perhaps  the  most  refractory  of  all  to  his  style  and  his 
ideas.  I  am  delighted  on  his  own  account,  for  I  have  for  him  the  greatest  esteem 
and  affection,  but  even  more  because  of  the  effect  this  exotic  manifestation  will  doubt- 
less have  upon  ourselves. 

You  know  that  Zola  has  more  than  once  been  a  candidate  for  the  French  Academy. 
He  has  always  been  blackballed.  Most  other  men  would,  after  so  many  failures* 


246  IN  THE   WORLD  OF  ART  AND  LETTERS. 

have  become  soured  and  have  withdrawn  altogether.  Zola  is  tenacious  ;  he  is  of 
those  who,  as  a  Breton  proverb  says,  will  drive  a  nail  into  the  wall  with  their  head,  if 
the}'  do  not  happen  to  have  a  hammer  at  hand.  He  still  holds  on. 

When  he  returns  from  England  it  will  not  be  easy  to  subject  him  to  a  new  refusal. 
It  is  among  us  a  tradition  that  Bordeaux  wine  is  improved  by  a  sea  voyage  ;  it 
comes  back  "from  the  Indies"  a  better  wine  ;  well,  there  are  reputations  of  which 
the  same  may  be  said.  It  is  clear  that  Zola's  works,  after  his  return  from  London, 
will  have  gained  one  hundred  per  cent.,  if  not  in  flavor  and  bouquet,  at  least  in  reputa- 
tion. Can  the  French  Academy  longer  close  its  doors  to  the  official  representative  of 
French  letters  abroad  ? 

The  subject  of  Zola's  address  before  the  International  Congress,  "  Anonymous 
Journalism,"  has  been  taken  up  by  all  writers  in  both  hemispheres  ;  every  one  has 
felt  bound  to  express  his  opinion  on  it,  and  Zola  has  thus  been  commented  upon  by 
the  innumerable  army  of  journalists.  That  is  popularity,  and  you  remember,  do  3'ou 
not,  the  definition  Victor  Hugo  has  given  of  it?  He  called  it  "glory  in  half- pence" — 
but  glory  all  the  same.  And  who  can  tell  whether  in  democracies  the  best  and  most 
enviable  of  all  kinds  of  glory  is  not,  after  all,  "  la  gloire  en  gros  sous?  "  Shall  I 
confess  it  to  you  ?  It  is  just  this  I  am  ambitious  of  in  my  own  country,  and  I  do  not 
deem  myself  a  very  modest  man. 

Just  now  I  said  something  about  le  snobisme.  The  festivities  France  is  preparing 
are  not  free  from  it.  I  trust  we  shall  soon  recover  our  self-control ;  for,  really, 
moderation  is  a  thoroughly  French  quality.  At  present,  however,  we  are  trying  to 
force  ourselves  into  a  frenzy  of  enthusiasm — and  this  is  one  of  the  forms  of 
"  snobisme."  It  was  perfectly  natural  to  show  satisfaction  at  the  projected  visit  of 
the  Russians.  We  all  felt  pleased  at  it,  for  reasons  which  I  need  not  mention  here.  But 
between  such  a  feeling  and  the  shouts  of  joy,  the  spasms  of  enthusiasm,  the  noisy 
manifestations,  the  indescribable  hubbub  of  the  projected  festivities,  there  is  all  the 
difference  between  a  serious  sentiment  and  an  attack  of  hysterical  nervousness,  and 
the  worst  of  it  is  that  this  hysterical  excitement  is  feigned,  or  at  any  rate  forced. 

We  are  a  queer  nation.  One  of  the  characteristics  of  French  taste  is  modera- 
tion, measure,  and  yet  we  are  scarcety  ever  moderate.  Are  Americans  more  so  ?  Is 
there  not  an  Italian  proverb  that  says  that  "  all  men  resemble  our  family  ?  " 

FRANCISQUE  SARCEY. 
*  *  * 

AL'HEURE  ou  j'e'cris  M.  Emile  Zola  n'est  pas  encore  revenue  de  I^ondres,  ou  il  6tait  al!6  repr£senter  le 
journalisme  fran9ais  au  Congr£s  International  de  la  Presse  ;  et  la  flotte  russe  n'est  pas  encore  entree 
au  port  de  Toulon,  ou  la  municipality  lui  manage  une  reception  grandiose  et  des  fetes  magninques. 
Ces  deux  6v6nements  d'impprtance  fort  in£gale,  occupent  6galement  toutes  les  imaginations  en  France. 
Voulez-vous  que  nous  en  causions  ensemble,  avec  le  tour  de  philosophic  que  nous  donnons  volontiers  a  ces 
entretiens? 

Nous  avons  €t€  ici  quelque  peu  e'tpnne's  de  1'accueil  enthousiaste  qu'Emile  Zola  a  re?u  chez  nos  voisins 
d'outre-manche.  Nous  nous  attendions  a  d'aimables  demonstrations  de  courtpisie  Internationale  ;  nous  sa- 
vons  qne  les  Anglais  sont  dans  leurs  rapports  les  plus  corrects  et  les  plus  polis  des  homines.  Ce  que  nous 
n'avipns  pu  preVoir,  c'etait  cet  exces  de  curiosity  febrile,  c'etaient  ces  emportements  d'admiratiou,  ces 
vivacit6s  de  sympathie.  Elles  nous  ont  paru  et  elles  devaient  nous  paraitre  slngulidres. 

Nous  savions  que  1'ceuvre  d'Emile  Zola,  sauf  quelque  romans,  qui  ne  sont  pas  les  meilleurs.  avait  ete 
proscrite  du  sol  anglais  et  mise  au  bane  de  la  pudeur  britannique.  Nous  savions  que  l'6diteur  de  1'  Assomoir 
et  de  Nana  avait  616  condamn6  a  de  fortes  ameiides,  qui  1'avaient  ruinE,  et  qu'il  avait  rnfime  payE  d'un  assez 
bon  temps  de  prison  ce  que  le  poete  appelle  : 

"  I/impardonnable  tort  d'avoir  trop  t6t  raison." 

Nous  ne  pouvions  nous  imaginer  que  la  bonne  compagnie  anglaise  ne  partageait  pas  les  sentiments  d'ou 
etait  sortie  cette  condamnation  ;  nous  ne  pouvions  croire  que  les  jeunes  misses  qui  ne  cpnnaissaient  de  Zola 
que  son  easier  judiciaire,  seraient  si  ravies  de  contempler  le  visage  d'un  £crivain  qui  avait  port£  uue  si  grave 
attetnte  a  leur  moralite. 

Nous  comptions  sans  le  snobism.  J'ignore  si  ce  mot,  qui  est  pourtant  d'ongine  anglaise,  a  dans  votre 
langue  un  Equivalent  exact.  Nous  traitons  de  snob  I'homnie  qui  s'extasie  sur  les  choses  qu'il  ne  comprend 
ni  ne  goute  sincerement ;  qui  veut  se  distinguer  en  feignant,  sur  la  foi  de  quelques  personnes  compEtentes, 
des  admirations  qu'il  ne  sent  pas  ;  qui  pretend  se  distinguer  de  la  foule  en  affectant  dts  enthousiasmes  qui 


les  rfeuitats  qu'aura  sans  doute  par  ricochet  sur  notre  nation  elle-meme  cet  manifestation  exotique. 

Vous  n'ignorez  pas  qu'Emile  Zola  s'est  deja  presente  plus  d'une  fois  a  I'AcadEmie  Fraucaise.  II  a  toujourb 
et6  blackboulfe,  et  beaucoup  d'autres  se  seraient,  apres  ces  echecs  r£pet6s,  pris  de  mauvaise  humeur,  et  au- 


IN  THE   WORLD  OF  ART  AND  LETTERS. 


247 


du  gout  fraucais,  et  jamais  presque  nous  ue  sommes  dans  la  mesure.     Les  Am^ricains,  y  sout-ils  plus  que 
nous  ?    N'y  a-t-il  pas  un  proverbe  italien  qui  dit :  "  Tout  le  monde  est  fait  comnie  notre  famille  "  ? 


THE 
MONTH 

IN 
II  ENGLAND 


WITH  the  equinox,  new  books  begin  to  peep  shyly  forth.  Certainly,  there  seems 
to  be  a  large,  if  an  undistinguished  blossoming.  On  the  last  page  of  the 
Spectator  one  notices  the  names  of  a  hundred  books,  among  which  only  "  The  Life 
of  Dr.  Pusey,"  by  H.  P.  Liddon  (Longmans),  appears  at  all  attractive.  It  has  not 
yet  reached  the  northern  latitudes  whence  I  write,  but  one  need  not  be  a  prophet  to 
discern  its  chances  of  being  talked  about.  That  curious  Oxford  movement  will  be  dis- 
cussed once  more,  with  its  eager  attempt  to  eat  the  cake  and  have  it,  to  enjoy  the  pres- 
tige of  antiquity,  with  the  freedom  of  reformation.  Man  is  not  a  reasoning  animal ; 
had  he  been  so,  there  would  have  been  no  Anglican  movement. 

Still  unpublished,  but  on  its  way  to  birth,  is  Colonel  Hawker's  "Journal  "  (Long- 
mans). Sir  Ralph  Payne  Galwey  writes  the  introduction  ;  I  can  assure  men  who 
shoot  and  fish  that  the  diary  of  the  good  colonel  will  be  worthy  of  their  best  atten- 
tion. He  lived  in  better  times  for  sportsmen  than  ours,  and  his  records  excite  our 
envy. 

Lady  Burton's  life  of  her  husband,  Sir  Richard  Burton,  is  an  odd  account  of  a 
strange  character,  a  strange  career.  Lady  Burton's  wifely  devotion  is  admirable, 
even  if  it  naturally  disqualifies  her  for  the  task  of  the  critical  biographer.  A  queer 
mixture  of  scepticism  and  mysticism  marked  Sir  Richard  ;  he  dabbled  in  the  occult, 
he  knew  a  dozen  tongues,  yet  wrote  his  own  but  indifferently,  and  perhaps  he  missed 
his  opportunity  when  he  failed  to  be  born  in  the  spacious  times  of  great  Elizabeth. 
The  book  is  not  always  so  much  written  as  compiled,  masses  of  matter  are  inserted 
whole  where  a  brief  abstract  would  have  suited  better  ;  but  the  work  is  undeniably 
interesting,  and  Lady  Burton  deserves  our  sympathy  in  the  affair  of  the  "Scented 
Garden."  She  burned  a  manuscript  which  was  "  nane  the  waur  for  a  burning,"  and 
she  deserves  well  of  literature. 

The  chief  novel  of  the  month  is,  of  course,  Mr.  Stevenson's  "  Catriona."  A  sequel 
to  "Kidnapped,"  it  can  never  rival  "Kidnapped"  in  my  affections.  There  is  much 
less  incident,  and  the  boyish  hero  is  so  wise  beyond  his  years,  that  he  never  could 
have  lived,  unchaperoned,  with  the  heroine.  This  incident  is  as  improbable  as  ' '  She," 
granting  the  character  of  Mr.  David  Balfour.  The  character  of  Catriona  is  charm- 


248 


IN  THE   WORLD  OF  ART  AND  LETTERS. 


ing,  is  admirable,  and  she  is  one  of  Mr.  Stevenson's  two  successes  in  drawing  women. 
The  legend  of  the  warlock,  told  on  the  Bass  Rock,  is  worthy  of  the  author  of 
"  Thrawn  Janet."  The  old  Scotch  lady,  Mrs.  Drummond,  is  also  capital,  and  I  am 
much  in  love  with  Prestongrange's  beautiful  daughter.  The  scene  in  Inverary  church 
is  excellent ;  last  Sunday  I  attended  public  worship  there,  and  perhaps  thought  more 
than  one  should  have  done  of  David  Balfour's  entrance  and  the  spoiling  of  the  ser- 
mon. And  now  I  hope  boys  will  demand  from  Mr.  Stevenson  the  story  of  Cluny's 
treasure,  to  which  he  refers.  The  Highlanders  still  talk  of  it,  and,  perhaps,  hope  to 
find  it.  But  the  30,000  "  louis  d'or  "  are  no  longer  in  Loch  Arkaig.  Cluny  took  them 
up,  and  carried  them  to  the  Prince  in  Paris,  about  1756. 

A  lady,  who  detests  Dickens,  informs  me  that  "  Ships  Which  Pass  in  the  Night," 
by  Miss  Beatrice  Harrenden,  is  an  admirable  romance.  To  myself  it  seems  that  Mr. 
Augustus  Moddle  (who  loved  but  deserted  the  elder  Miss  Pecksniff)  might  have 
written  this  dismal  production.  However,  there  is  no  disputing  about  tastes.  Ladies 
who  detest  Dickens  may  enjoy  themselves  vastly  over  the  loves,  to  rue  intolerable, 
of  The  Disagreeable  Man,  in  "  Ships  Which  Pass  in  the  Night." 

Mr.  Grant  Allen's  "Scalywag"  (Chatto  &  Windus)  is  full  of  Mr.  Grant  Allen's 
pet  ideas.  I  don't  agree  with  one  of  them  :  I  believe  in  ghosts,  and  not  in  Mr.  Her- 
bert Spencer ;  Mr.  Allen  believes  in  Mr.  Spencer,  but  not  in  ghosts.  But,  ah,  that 
the  author  were  here  to  dispute  with !  In  any  case,  Mr.  Allen  is  not  dull,  in  the 
« '  Scalywag ' '  or  anything  else,  and  so  he  deserves  our  gratitude.  ANDREW  LANG. 


BEHIND  us,  forever,  have  closed  the  gates  of  the  Chicago  paradise.  Already  the 
White  City,  practically,  has  ceased  to  be.  Whatever  may  be  the  fate  of  its 
fragments,  we  never  shall  look  upon  it  again  entire.  And  yet,  in  a  sense,  it  is 
only  now  beginning — with  the  diffusion  of  its  teachings  and  the  consequent  estab- 
lishment for  the  first  time  on  this  continent  of  an  authoritative  popular  standard  by 
which  we  can  estimate  the  worth  or  worthlessness  of  real  or  so-called  works  of  art. 

We  are  not  especially  stupid,  we  Americans  ;  nor  do  we,  I  think,  organically  lack 
taste.  What  we  have  lacked,  and  pitiably,  has  been  opportunity  to  develop  our  taste 
on  rational  lines — with  the  result  that  what  we  are  pleased  to  call  our  artistic  crea- 
tions have  been  for  the  most  part  so  horrible  that  not  even  a  barbaric  heathen  in  his 
blindness  knowingly  would  bow  down  to  our  misdoings  in  color  and  wood  and  stone. 
A  civilized  heathen,  not  blind,  upon  being  confronted  with  some  of  them — as  the 
Philadelphia  postoffice,  the  frescoes  in  the  capitol  at  Washington,  the  out-door  cham- 
ber of  statuesque  horrors  in  the  New  York  Central  Park — probably  would  rave  briefly 
and  then  energetically  die. 

Really,  though,  it  has  not  been  our  fault.  Artistic  perception,  mainly,  is  a  matter 
of  education  based  upon  standards  of  art  value — and  we  have  had  no  such  standards 
to  which  we  could  refer.  The  art-museums  in  this  country  which  have  taught  less 
harm  than  good  readily  may  be  counted  off  on  anybody's  ten  fingers — with  at  least  a 
finger  or  two  to  spare.  As  to  our  public  architecture — the  Federal  and  State  and  munic- 
ipal buildings  which,  in  theory,  should  teach  at  least  lessons  in  structural  propriety 
— it  is  a  dismal  fact  that,  as  a  whole,  a  more  melancholy  procession  of  the  blind  never 
led  other  blind  into  ditches  of  ugliness.  Landscape  gardening,  to  all  intents  and  pur- 
poses, has  been  a  thing  unknown.  With  all  the  conditions  thvis  against  us,  even  our 
American  ingenuity  was  powerless  to  make  artistic  bricks  without  the  necessary  straw. 


IN  THE   WORLD  OF  ART  AND  LETTERS. 


249 


Writing  or  talking  would  not  change  this  state  of  affairs.  Neither  of  these 
methods  would  reach  the  people  whom  it  was  necessary  to  reach  ;  nor  was  either  of 
them  sufficiently  concrete.  What  was  required  was  a  tangible  demonstration,  a 
clinic  in  the  beautiful,  before  a  working  minority  of  the  citizens  of  the  United  States. 
This  is  precisely  what  we  have  had  at  Chicago — where  absolute  standards  of  excel- 
lence in  the  fine  arts  have  been  exhibited  (as  we  fairly  may  assume)  to  most  of  the 
people  who  do  the  thinking  and  working  of  this  country  and  really  make  it  go. 
And  the  demonstration  has  been  so  overpoweringly  convincing  that  hereafter  these 
standards  will  be  known  and  used  by  the  many  instead  of  by  only  the  elect  few — 
which  means  not  that  the  art  millennium  already  is  with  us,  but  that  it  certainly  will 
get  here  very  much  ahead  of  the  present  schedule  time. 

Thus  it  is  that  while  the  Columbian  miracle  has  vanished,  it  is  not  lost ;  that,  on 
the  contrary,  its  strongest  life  is  but  now  beginning:  as  its  beauty  -  compelling 
power  lays  hold  upon  us  and  as  the  tradition  of  its  loveliness  sinks  down  into  and 
possesses  our  hearts.  THOMAS  A.  JANVIER. 


THE  one  English  dramatist  whose  work  shows  poetic  fantasy  and  imagination — 
Mr.  Henry  Arthur  Jones— has  astonished  London  by  producing  a  platitude  in 
four  acts.  The  play  is  called  "The  Tempter "  and  is  said  to  be  in  blank  verse.  The 
devil  is  a  familiar  figure  in  English  dramatic  literature,  from  the  days  of  the  old 
miracle  plays  and  moralities  to  the  da}^s  of  burlesque  Fausts  Up  To  Date.  We  have 
even  witnessed  an  attempt  to  bring  Mephistopheles  up  to  date  by  clothing  him  in  irre- 
proachable evening  dress,  replacing  his  caudal  appendage  by  the  swallow-tail  of  so- 
ciety. This  was  Herman  Merivale's  ill-fated  play,  "  The  Cynic."  A  still  more 
modern  conception  of  the  spirit  of  evil  has  been  suggested  (though  in  sonnet-form 
only)  by  Mr.  Frank  Marzials  : 

"  But  now  in  courtliest  tones  of  cultured  grace, 

He  glories  in  the  growth  of  good,  his  glance 
Beaming  benignant  as  he  bids  us  trace 

God  everywhere — till,  as  mere  motes  that  dance 
Athwart  the  sunbeams,  all  things  evil  and  base 

Glint  golden  in  his  genial  tolerance." 

A  devil  on  these  lines  would  have  been  a  vehicle  for  "criticism  of  life"  as  life  is 
lived  today.  Mr.  Jones'  "Tempter ""is  merely  the  stock  devil  of  mediaeval  legend 
and  primitive  religion — the  property-devil  of  the  picture  books — and  he  goes  about 
with  a  suggestion  of  horns  on  his  brow  and  a  suspicion  of  a  tail  between  his 
legs,  and  there  is  the  old,  old  story  of  seduction,  and  murder,  and  suicide,  and 
red  fire.  Nothing  is  spared  us  —  not  even  the  Devil's  comic  song  with  guitar 
obligato.  The  curtain  rises  upon  the  pantomimic  wreck  of  Prince  Leon's  galley, 
with  the  Devil  ranting  on  the  mast  in  the  darkness.  Que  diable  allait  il  faire  dans 
cette  galere  ?  The  Prince,  who  is  coming  to  many  the  Lady  Avis,  is  cast  ashore 
anonymously,  and  is  persuaded  by  the  Tempter  to  woo  her  cousin,  the  Lady  Isabel, 
instead,  and  divert  the  latter  from  chastity  and  the  Church.  The  gentle  Isabel, 
under  like  temptation,  plays  her  cousin  false,  loses  her  honor,  and  then — misprised 
and  deserted— turns  upon  her  betrayer,  kills  him,  and  finally  herself.  Up  till  the 
end,  till  the  last  curtain  is  rung  down,  literally  till  the  eleventh  hour,  one  hesitates 
to  believe  that  this  is  all,  trusting  that  the  Devil  is  not  so  old  as  he  is  painted,  wait- 


250 


IN  THE  WORLD  OF  ART  AND  LETTERS. 


ing  for  a  spark  of  fire,  a  gleam  of  new  symbolism,  a  streak  of  fresh  fantasy,  a  shadow 
of  subtlety — for  all  those  things,  in  short,  to  which  Mr.  Jones  has  accustomed  us. 
And  at  moments  indeed  one  thrills  with  a  premonition  of  the  grotesque  and  the  im- 
aginative, as  when  the  murderess  Isabel  has  a  horrible  intuition  of  the  identity  of  the 
Tempter,  what  time  his  form  looms  large  and  fiery  ;  or  when  the  Devil  has  a  moment 
of  vain  longing  for  human  love  and  mortal  existence, 

"  The  sluice  of  tears,  the  sting,  and  pant  of  life, 
Labor  and  hunger,  sweat  and  sleep,  hopes,  fears, 
Joys,  sorrows," 

But  it  all  comes  to  nothing.  The  only  real  touches  of  originality  are  anachronisms 
— crude  modern  idioms  and  scraps  of  philosophy  that  have  no  business  in  mediae- 
val romance.  At  the  finish  one  has  a  fresh  spasm  of  aesthetic  emotion,  for  the  play 
seems  to  close  upon  a  triumphant  Miltonic  satan,  sneering  at  the  Creator,  but  lo  !  it 
passes  away  in  a  strain  of  church  music,  and  we  are  left  with  the  old,  old  stage  moral 
that  though  evil  and  sorrow  conquer  all  along  the  line,  yet  the  organ  will  always 
play  in  the  end.  But  the  weakest  part  of  this  spiritual  drama  is  its  lack  of  grip. 
The  action  takes  place  in  an  indefinite  time  in  a  vague  England,  outrages  probability 
at  every  point,  and  has  no  dramatic  pulse  and  movement.  The  struggle  of  the  char- 
acters against  sin  does  not-excite  the  spectator  ;  he  foresees  that  the  devil  must  win, 
and  at  the  end  of  any  act  he  would  not  mind  if  the  curtain  fell  never  to  rise  again. 
It  is  in  fine  devilishly  dull — a  play  without  imagination,  without  insight,  and,  above 
all,  without  interest. 

Nevertheless,  "The  Tempter"  cannot  fail  of  a  certain  run.  Mr.  Beerbohm  Tree 
has  a  large  following,  the  Haymarket  is  a  fashionable  theater,  and  Mr.  Jones  is  a 
distinguished  dramatist  who  has  contributed  more  than  anyone  else  to  form  the  more 
exacting  taste  by  which  he  is  now  tried  and  condemned.  I.  ZANGWIIX. 


HORACE 
WALPOLB : 

A  MEMOIR. 


ONCE  in  a  while — in  a  very  long  while — it  is  granted  to  a  persevering  reader 
to  see  his  favorite  author  handled  with  charming  sympathy  by  the  only  man 
who  seems  qualified  for  the  task.  When  this  happens,  the  reader's  heart  is  made 
light,  and  he  begins  to  have  optimistic  views  anent  book -making,  and  the  future  of 
criticism.  Horace  Walpole  has  suffered  heavy  punishment  for  his  many  sins  ;  to  be 
gossiped  about  by  Mr.  Dobson  is  now  the  just  reward  of  his  many  literary  virtues. 
This  little  memoir,  enriched  with  admirable  portraits,  and  with  a  complete  list  of 
books  printed  at  the  Strawberry-Hill  press,  has  for  three  years  been  the  property  of 
the  haughty  few  who  could  afford  an  edition  so  limited  as  to  be  practically  unat- 
tainable. It  has  now  been  given  to  the  grateful  many,  who  have  waited  too  long 
already  for  what,  in  common  justice,  should  have  been  theirs  three  good  years  ago. 

For  here,  at  last,  we  have  the  prince  of  letter-writers  drawn  for  us  with  a  sure  and 
graceful  touch.  Here  is  the  petted  child,  who,  humored  in  a  foolish  whim,  was  car- 
ried privately  to  court  at  night,  to  kiss  King  George's  hand.  Here  is  the  clever 
schoolboy,  who  preferred  reading  to  fighting  ;  whose  friends  were  lads  as  precocious 
as  himself,  and  who,  in  most  unboyish  fashion,  dubbed  his  play-fellows  Oromasdes 
and  Plato  instead  of  plain  Ashton  and  Gray.  Here  is  the  one  undergraduate  of  Cam- 
bridge who  frankly  confesses  (for  which  we  love  him  much)  that  he  n^ver  mastered 
even  his  multiplication  table.  Here  is  the  j'oung  gentleman  of  leisure  who  drew  a 
handsome  income  from  sinecures,  and  who  was  of  real  service  to  his  country  by  trav- 


TWENTY  BOOKS  OF  THE  MONTH. 


251 


eling  abroad,  and  writing  admirable  letters  home.  Here  is  the  valued  friend  of  so 
many  brilliant  and  distinguished  people,  who  has  left  us  in  his  vivacious  pages  those 
matchless  portraits  that  time  can  never  fade.  Here,  in  a  word,  is  Horace  Walpole, 
whom  some  loved  and  not  a  few  hated,  whose  critics  have  dealt  him  heavy  censure  and 
faint  praise,  and  who  now,  from  a  snug  corner  in  the  Elysian  fields,  must  secretly 
rejoice  at  finding  himself  in  hands  at  once  sympathetic,  tolerant  and  impartial. 

The  charm  of  this  memoir  is  its  fine  quality  of  self- repression,  so  good  and  so  rare 
in  biographers.  Peter  Cunningham  says  truly  that,  when  Macau  lay  cudgelled  Lord 
Orford,  he  thought  very  little  of  his  subject,  and  a  great  deal  of  his  own  brilliancy. 
The  present  writer  is  content  to  portray  for  us  Horace  Walpole,  and  has  generously  neg- 
lected to  stamp  on  every  page  "  Austin  Dobson,  (his  mark)."  AGNES  REPPLIER. 


TWENTY  BOOKS  OF  THE  MONTH. 


FICTION.  —  CHINESE  NIGHTS'  ENTER- 
TAINMENTS, by  Adele  M.  Fielde.  Illus- 
trated by  Chinese  artists.  G.  P.  Put- 
nam Sons.  $1.75. 

HORACE  CHASE,  by  Constance  Feni- 
more  Wool  son.  Harper  &  Brothers. 

THE  HANDSOME  HUMES,  by  William 
Black.  Harper  &  Brothers.  $1.50. 

THE  COAST  OF  BOHEMIA,  by  W.  D. 
Howells.  Harper  &  Brothers.  $1.50. 

MONTEZUMA'S  DAUGHTER,  by  H. 
Rider  Haggard.  Longmans,  Green  & 
Co.  $1.00. 

SCIENCE  AND  PHILOSOPHY.— HIS- 
TORY OF  PHILOSOPHY,  with  Especial 
Reference  to  the  Formation  and  Devel- 
opment of  its  Problems  and  Concep- 
tions, by  Dr.  W.  Windelband,  University 
of  Strassburg  ;  translated  by  Prof.  James 
H.  Tufts,  PH.D.,  University  of  Chicago. 
Macmillan  &  Co.  $5.00. 

AN  HISTORICAL  INTERPRETATION 
OF  PHILOSOPHY,  by  John  Bascom.  G. 
P.  Putnam  Sons.  $2.50. 

THE  SILVA  OF  NORTH  AMERICA, 
Vol.  v.  By  Charles  Sprague  Sargent. 
Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.  $25.00. 

COMPARATIVE  ADMINISTRATIVE 
LAW,  by  F.  J.  Goodnow,  Columbia  Col- 
lege.    G.  P.  Putnam  Sons.     $3.75. 
ART.  —  ITALIAN   GARDENS,    by  Charles 
A.  Platt.     Harper  &  Brothers. 


BIOGRAPHY.— LETTERS  OF  JAMES  RUS- 
SELL LOWELL,  edited  by  Charles  Eliot 
Norton.  Twovols.  Harper  &  Bros.  $8.00. 

GEORGE  WILLIAM  CURTIS'  WORKS, 
Vols.  I  &  II.  Harper  &  Bros.  $3.50  each. 

VON  MOLTKE'S  WRITINGS.  ESSAYS, 
SPEECHES  AND  MEMOIRS.  Two  new 
volumes.  Harper  &  Brothers.  $5.00. 

LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  AR- 
THUR PENRHYN  STANLEY,  by  R.  E. 
Prothero,  with  the  cooperation  of  Dean 
Bradley.  Two  vols.  Charles  Scrib- 
ner's  Sons. 

OLD  COURT  LIFE  IN  FRANCE,  by 
Frances  Elliot.  Two  vols.  G.  P.  Put- 
nam Sons.  $4.00. 

LITERARY. —THE  ATTIC  ORATORS 
FROM  ANTIPHON  TO  Is^eus,  by  R.  C. 
Jebb,  LITT.D.,  Cambridge.  Two  vols. 
Macmillan  &  Co.  $5.00. 

SUB-CCELUM  :  A  SKY-BUILT  HUMAN 
WORLD,  by  A.  P.  Russell.  Houghton, 
Mifflin  &  Co.  $1.25. 
HISTORY.— STUDIES  OF  TRAVEL,  by  E. 
A.  Freeman,  i.  Greece  ;  H.  Italy.  G. 
P.  Putnam  Sons.  75  cents. 

HENRY  OF  NAVARRE  AND  THE  HU- 
GUENOTS IN  FRANCE,  by  P.  F.  Willert, 
Oxford.  G.  P.  Putnam  Sons. 
TRAVEL  AND  ADVENTURE.-RiDERS 
OF  MANY  LANDS,  by  Theodore  Ayrault 
Dodge,  U.S.A.  Harper  &  Bros.  $4.00. 


NATURE. 


IT  was  evening.  Coming  after  a  long  spell  of  rainy  weather,  the  day  had  been 
sunny  and  warm,  and  had  fairly  ushered  in  the  long-expected  summer.  Though 
the  sun  had  set,  goldfinches,  warblers,  chaffinches,  blackbirds,  were  still  singing, 
tireless  in  their  joy  and  in  their  song  ;  the  thickets  were  full  of  nests  ;  on  the  tops  of 
the  taller  trees  ringdoves  cooed  their  sweet  and  melancholy  refrains  ;  beyond  the 
forest,  in  the  distant  horizon,  the  moon  appeared,  rising  in  a  fleecy,  transparent 
atmosphere,  and  in  the  bushes  near  the  villa  the  ^matchless  voice  of  the  nightingale 
modulated  in  a  thousand  harmonious  variations  the  first  hymn  of  the  night. 

Yet,  in  the  fresh-cut  hay,  in  the  grass,  amidst  the  clearings  in  the  woods,  the  main 
body  of  the  general  melody,  the  persistent1  tune  in  this  evening  concert,  were  the 
chirpings  of  the  cricket.  The  last  notes  of  the  warbler,  the  trills  of  the  nightingale, 
the  cooings  of  the  turtledove,  the  buzz  of  insects,  the  monosyllabic  calls  of  the  toad, 
that  struck  the  darkness  like  the  tinklings  of  a  little  bell,  the  croaking  of  the  frogs  in 
the  valley,  all  these  did  at  times  stop  as  if  to  listen,  and  then  started  again  like  a 
rustic  chorus,  a  strange,  irregular  accompaniment  to  the  continuous  song  of  the 
cricket,  whose  humble,  quiet,  modest  notes  seemed  the  very  voice  of  the  darkness 
and  of  night,  reigning  supreme  in  this  concert  and  giving  out  the  exact  pitch  of 
the  hour,  even  when  all  the  rest  were  silent. 

As  I  listened  to  the  cricket,  I  remembered  having  heard  its  voice  from  a  balloon  at 
more  than  eight  hundred  meters'  elevation.  I  remembered  also  that  it  speaks  with- 
out a  voice ;  that  its  mouth  is  dumb ;  that  it  antedates  by  millions  of  years  the  earliest 
songsters  on  our  earth,  since  it  made  its  appearance  in  the  primary  epoch  of  geology, 
whilst  the  first  birds  belong  to  the  secondary.  I  remembered  also  the  pleasant  hours 
of  childhood,  the  stories  with  which  our  grandmothers  so  tenderly  rocked  our  earliest 
years  by  the  hearth  on  which  the  cricket  sang  its  homely  song ;  I  associated  the  past 
with  the  present ;  the  little  solitary  cricket  ceased  to  be  indifferent  to  me  ;  as  I  heard 
its  voice  I  thought  of  those  who  are  no  more,  those  who  sleep  under  the  sod  of  the 
cemetery,  among  whom  the  cricket  is  still  singing. 

Then  the  voices  of  nature  spoke  to  my  mind  with  a  meaning  that  had  been  hidden 
from  me  before.  Now  I  understood  them.  The  cricket  that  seeks  for  warmth  in  the 
baker's  oven,  and  prefers  to  the  sunshine  the  obscurity  of  the  night,  the  twilight 
shade,  or  the  half  light  of  thickets,  still  thinks  itself  in  the  warm  and  somber 
atmosphere  of  the  primeval  forests  that  sheltered  its  cradle,  for  at  the  epoch  when  this 
ancestor  of  insects  came  for  the  first  time  and  rubbed  its  sonorous  elytra  in  the 
silences  of  primeval  landscapes,  the  sun  was  immense  but  nebulous  and  the  earth  was 
warmer  than  today.  There  were  then  neither  seasons  nor  climates.  With  its  tepid 
and  unvarying  temperature  the  atmosphere  of  those  early  days  was  that  of  a  hot- 
house. Till  the  cricket  came,  nature  had  remained  voiceless  ;  it  is,  with  the  cicada, 
the  patriarch  of  song. 

His  note  is  like  an  echo  of  vanished  ages,  a  faint  reminiscence  of  the  past.  This 
primitive  insect  tells  us  the  story  of  nature.  It  has  successively  witnessed  all  the 
epochs  of  the  world's  progressive  evolution  ;  it  has  seen  the  formation  of  continents. 
I  seemed,  therefore,  in  that  evening  concert,  to  be  carried  back  to  a  period  preced- 


THE  PROGRESS  OF  SCIENCE. 


253 


ing  by  millions  of  years  the  creation  of  man.  I  listened  to  the  cricket  ,and  understood 
it.  It  said  :  "Be  not  ungrateful ;  do  not  forget  your  best  friend,  nature,  that  mother 
ever  young  and  ever  charming  ;  do  not  spend  your  life  within  stone  walls  ;  do  not 
breathe  incessantly  the  dust  of  your  factories  ;  do  not  waste  away  in  the  stupid 
noises  of  your  cities  ;  come  back  to  us  sometimes  and  drink  in  the  atmosphere  of 
fields  and  woods.  All  the  voices  of  nature  invite  you  to  admire  the  beauty  of  the 
universe  about  you  ;  its  history  is  full  of  interest ;  understand  it,  and  live  somewhat 
like  us  in  the  calmness  and  happiness  of  simplicity."  CAMILLA  FLAMMARION. 


THE 

MOLECULES 
'•  '    AND    ATOMS 
OF  CHEMIS- 
TRY. 


THE  essential  nature  of  matter  is  unknown  ;  our  knowledge  is  only  of  its  prop- 
erties. The  probable  ultimate  constitution  of  matter  has  been  the  basis  of 
much  acute  speculation,  and  atomic  hypotheses  date  from  the  days  of  Democritus 
and  Lucretius.  Only  within  the  present  century  has  there  been  adduced  any  serious 
proof  of  such  atomic  constitution.  The  probability  of  such  constitution  has  been 
raised  almost  to  the  rank  of  certainty  by  the  chemical  and  physical  researches  of  this 
century. 

Every  homogeneous  substance  may  be  repeatedly  divided  into  smaller  and  smaller 
portions,  each  portion  retaining  (except  as  to  degree)  all  and  only  the  properties  of 
the  substance.  The  smallest  masses  which  thus  retain  all  the  qualities  of  the 
original  substance  are  the  chemical  molecules  of  that  substance — the  whole  is  but  an 
aggregate  of  such  molecules. 

By  chemical  means  the  molecules  of  nearly  all  bodies  can  be  shown  to  be  composed 
of  still  smaller  masses  of  matter.  The  smallest  individual  masses  that  can  be  shown 
to  make  up  the  molecules  of  bodies  are  the  chemical  atoms.  If  the  individual 
atoms  which  make  up  the  molecules  of  a  substance  have  identical  properties  the 
substance  is  a  chemical  element,  if  the  atoms  which  make  up  the  molecules,  are 
unlike  the  body  is  a  chemical  compound.  The  molecules  of  every  compound  body 
contain  at  least  two  dissimilar  atoms  and  the  molecules  of  most  compounds  contain 
more  than  two.  The  molecules  of  most  elementary  bodies  contain  two  atoms,  a  few 
contain  but  one  and  some  have  more  than  two. 

The  atoms  of  the  same  element  have  all  the  same  weight,  which  are  different  from 
the  weights  of  the  atoms  of  all  other  elements.  The  weight  of  the  molecule  of  any 
substance  is  the  sum  of  the  weights  of  the  atoms  which  enter  it. 

The  molecules  of  every  substance  when  in  the  gaseous  form,  whether  an  element 
or  a  compound,  occupy  equal  spaces,  and  this  is  true  no  matter  how  many  atoms 
enter  the  molecules.  The  gaseous  molecules  do  not  actually  fill  all  the  space  reserved 
to  themselves  ;  if  they  did  matter  would  be  continuous  and  two  gases  could  not  mix. 

The  actual  dimensions  of  chemical  molecules  are  such  as  to  elude  comprehension 
and  confound  the  imagination.  A  cubic  inch  of  oxygen  at  ordinary  temperature 
and  pressure  contains  so  many  molecules  that  a  number  equal  to  that  of  the  entire 
population  of  the  globe  might  escape  every  second,  and  it  would  require  more  than 
six  thousand  years  to  empty  that  small  space.  Professor  Tait  computes  that  if  a 
drop  of  water  were  magnified  to  the  size  of  the  earth,  the  molecules  of  that  drop 
would  then  be  about  the  size  of  billiard  balls.  Chemistry  has  determined  the  relative 
weights  of  atoms  and  molecules  and  usually  expresses  them  in  terms  of  the  weight 
of  the  hydrogen  atom.  When  an  attempt  is  made  to  give  these  weights  in  terms  of 
any  of  our  ordinary  measures  the  numbers  are  so  small  that  no  idea  is  cpnveyed 
which  the  mind  can  grasp.  S.  E-  TINMAN,  Coi,.  u.  S.  A. 


254 


THE  PROGRESS  OF  SCIENCE. 


WHEN  the  light  of  an  electric  arc-lamp  is  concentrated  by  means  of  a  property 
constructed  mirror,  so  as  to  make  a  dense  beam,  it  is  called  a  search-light. 
With  large  carbon  rods  and  a  current  of  from  fifty  to  a  hundred  amperes,  it  is 
possible  to  produce  a  beam  with  an  intensity  of  a  hundred  million  candles,  or  even 
more.  The  search-light  on  Mount  Washington  last  year  was  seen,  on  favorable  occa- 
sions, a  hundred  miles  away. 

This  powerful  light  has  not  been  put  to  many  uses  hitherto,  but  it  is  now  likely  to 
come  into  more  general  use.  By  employing  large  lenses  of  proper  focal  length  it  has 
been  found  possible  to  project  pictures  upon  the  clouds  as  upon  a  great  screen.  The 
pictures  to  be  thus  projected  may  be  prepared  in  stencil  on  sheets  of  tin  or  iron.  Ad- 
vertisements prepared  in  this  way  may  be  read  a  mile  or  more  away,  as  the  letters 
may  be  more  than  a  hundred  feet  long.  So  the  cloudy  sky  may  soon  be  made  an 
advertising-sheet ! 

When  the  unobstructed  beam  is  projected  vertically  upwards  in  what  we  call  clear 
air  in  the  night,  it  may  be  easily  seen  for  miles  around,  looking  like  the  tail  of  a 
comet.  With  this,  weather  forecasts  can  be  given  by  a  series  of  flashes  of  long  and 
short  duration,  constituting  a  code  of  signals,  and  thus  the  probable  changes  in  the 
weather  announced. 

In  a  similar  manner,  steamships,  in  a  fog  at  night,  may  indicate  their  whereabouts 
by  a  series  of  flashes,  which  are  more  easily  seen  in  the  dark  than  a  continuous  un- 
changing light.  Such  a  light  has  already  been  placed  in  some  light-houses,  and  would 
be  in  many  but  for  the  difficulty  in  providing  the  necessary  power  to  produce  them 
in  many  places  where  light-houses  are  needed. 

During  the  siege  of  Paris  there  was  great  difficulty  in  getting  information  into  or 
out  of  the  city  ;  but  a  search-light,  such  as  can  be  easily  had  now,  would  have  en- 
abled it,  or  any  other  beleaguered  city  to  communicate  with  the  rest  of  the  world 
with  comparative  ease  and  safety.  It  has  been  suggested  that  with  our  powerful 
search-lights  it  would  be  possible  to  communicate  with  the  planet  Mars,  if  it  should 
chance  to  be  peopled  with  intelligences  as  well  equipped  with  lights  and  telescopes  as 
we  are.  A.  E.  DOLBEAR. 

*  *  * 

THE  LATEST  DETERMINATION  OF  THE  SUN'S  DISTANCE. 

AN  extensive  series  of  observations  was  made  in  1889  upon  the  planet  Victoria 
(asteroid  No.  12)  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  the  distance  of  the  sun,  and 
incidentally  also  the  mass  of  the  moon, — quantities  which  to  the  uninitiated  would 
seem  to  bear  no  obvious  relation  to  the  motions  of  the  little  asteroid,  though,  in  fact, 
the  connection  is  close  and  positive. 

The  work  was  very  thoroughgoing,  involving  the  cooperation  of  no  less  than 
twenty-one  different  observatories  in  determining  with  their  meridian-circles  the 
places  of  the  stars  which  were  used  as  reference  points  along  the  planet's  track. 
Then  all  through  the  summer  the  position  of  the  planet  itself,  with  reference  to  these 
stars,  was  assiduously  observed  by  Gill  and  Auwers  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope ;  by 
Elkin  and  Hall  at  New  Haven,  and  in  Germany  by  Hartwig  at  Gottingen,  and  by 
Schur  at  Bamberg.  The  instruments  employed  in  their  observations  were  heliometers 


THE  PROGRESS  OF  SCIENCE. 


255 


of  the  most  perfect  construction,  and  the  measurements  made  with  them  rank  among 
the  most  accurate  and  refined  known  in  astronomy.  Altogether,  between  June  i5th 
and  August  27th,  while  the  planet  was  near  its  opposition  and  for  a  time  at  a  dis- 
tance from  the  earth  less  than  four-fifths  the  distance  of  the  sun,  over  eight  hundred 
complete  sets  of  measures  were  secured,  and  only  six  nights  were  wholly  missed. 

The  reduction  of  this  mass  of  material  has  occupied  nearly  three  years,  and  the  re- 
sult has  only  just  been  published.  Dr.  Gill,  who  originated  the  campaign  and  has 
reduced  the  observations,  finds  for  the  parallax  of  the  sun  8//.8og,  corresponding  to 
a  distance  of  92,800,000  miles  ;  and  he  further  finds  that  the  hitherto  accepted  mass 
of  the  moon  must  be  reduced  somewhat  more  than  one  per  cent,  to  satisfy  the  ob- 
servations :  in  other  words,  the  earth's  monthly  swing  due  to  her  motion  around  the 
common  center  of  gravity  of  earth  and  moon,  was  found  to  be  about  one  per  cent, 
less  than  had  been  assumed. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  this  newest  value  of  the  solar  parallax  agrees  to  the 
very  last  decimal  with  that  deduced  two  years  ago  by  Professor  Harkness  in  his  elab- 
orate "least-square"  discussion  of  all  the  then  available  data  relating  to  the  con- 
stants of  the  solar  system  :  the  still  outstanding  error  in  our  knowledge  of  the  astro- 
nomical unit  can  hardly  be  as  great  as  one  part  in  a  thousand.  C.  A.  YOUNG. 


GEOLOGY  AND  COSMOGONY. 

THERE  is  no  distinct  line  between  geology  and  astronomy ;  for  the  earth  is  a 
star.  Hence  such  questions  as  the  age  of  the  earth,  the  solidity  of  its  mass 
and  the  history  of  its  early  dynamical  changes  belong  to  both  branches  of  science. 
From  the  time  of  Leibnitz  onward,  many  geologists  have  appealed  to  the  primordial 
conditions  of  solidification  of  the  earth's  surface  for  explanation  of  some  phenomena, 
and  in  particular  the  character  of  the  earliest  crystalline  schists.  The  famous 
"  uniformitarian  "  school,  on  the  other  hand,  beginning  with  the  great  Hutton,  has 
always  maintained  that  conditions  on  the  earth's  surface  have  been  substantially 
as  we  now  see  them,  from  and  at  the  time  of  the  formation  of  these  earliest  rocks. 
This  view  has  recently  been  re-stated  with  much  force  by  Mr.  Teall  in  his  address 
before  the  British  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science.  Yet  it  is  one  which 
an  astronomer  could  scarcely  take.  Permanence  of  any  kind  is  among  the  most 
improbable  of  events.  That  the  sun  should  always  have  given  the  same  amount 
of  heat  of  the  same  intensity  as  it  now  does,  is  an  untenable  hypothesis  ;  and  on  the 
heat  of  the  sun  depend  not  only  climatic  conditions  on  the  earth,  but  also  its 
dynamical  transformations.  The  presumption  is  all  against  uniformitarianism, 
which  is  a  case  of  what  physicists  call  "exterpolation." 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  easy  to  place  too  great  reliance  on  a  certain  class  of 
conclusions  reached  by  astronomers.  When  they  discuss  the  motions  of  the  planets, 
it  is  with  a  precision  almost  beyond  the  comprehension  of  the  uninitiated  ;  but  when 


THE  PROGRESS  OF  SCIENCE. 


they  come  to  physical  questions,  such  as  the  age  of  the  sun,  they  no  longer  have  data 
of  a  high  order  of  precision  from  which  to  draw  conclusions.  Thus  even  the  actual 
emission  of  heat  from  the  sun  is  probably  unknown  with  any  approach  to  accuracy, 
and  it  is  substantially  certain  that  the  temperature  of  its  rays  has  increased  as  its 
volume  has  diminished.  Hence  any  estimate  of  the  age  of  the  sun  is  likely  to  be 
affected  by  an  immense  error,  perhaps  one  hundred  per  cent.  In  short,  estimates  of 
this  kind  are  on  a  par  with  those  which  geologists  can  draw  either  from  measure- 
ments of  the  thickness  of  strata,  or  from  discussions  of  fusibility  under  pressure. 

The  condition  of  the  earth  during  the  earlier  periods  ought  not  to  be  assumed  to  be 
what  it  is  now,  but  should  be  regarded  as  unknown,  except  so  far  as  it  is  elucidated 
by  established  facts  ;  and  the  phenomena  ought  to  be  discussed  by  physical  astron- 
omers and  geologists  in  concert  ;  or  better  still,  by  men  uniting  the  requisite 
knowledge  of  both  sciences.  This  would  redound  to  the  advantage  of  astronomy  as 
well  as  of  geology :  for  it  is  hard  to  see  how  observation  can  contribute  to  a 
knowledge  of  the  early  state  of  the  sun  unless  through  study  of  its  former  effects  on 
terrestrial  conditions.  GEORGE  F.  BECKER. 


r  I^HE  responsibility  which  rests  upon  the  various  commissions  connected  with 

i-  the  World's  Columbian  Exposition  of  showing  results  in  their  various  depart- 
ments commensurate  with  the  importance  of  the  year  and  the  occasion,  is  nowhere 
greater  than  in  the  Department  of  Education.  All  subjects  are  sure  to  receive 
intelligent  and  thorough  discussion,  and  the  leading  educators  of  the  country  have 
been  invited  to  contribute  their  best  thought  and  experience  to  the  solution  of  prob- 
lems old  and  new. 

The  teachers'  conventions  of  late  years  have  frequently  degenerated  into  perfunc- 
tory meetings — mutual  admiration  societies — conducted  by  fossilized  specimens  of 
the  genus  teacher,  and  less  good  than  harm  has  often  been  the  outcome  to  the  cause 
of  education.  Progressive  and  stimulating  teachers  avoid  these  conventions,  declin- 
ing to  stultify  themselves  by  lending  their  presence  or  aid  to  such  unfruitful  work, 
but  the  best  will  surely  be  attracted  by  the  discussions  at  Chicago.  I  look  for  almost 
a  revolution  in  the  methods  of  primary  teaching  for  the  public  schools  by  the  demon- 
strations, which  are  sure  to  come,  of  the  inestimable  value  of  Froebel's  ideas,  and 
the  principles  of  the  kindergarten. 

The  world  is  going  to  be  no  more  amazed  by  the  recent  discoveries  in  electricity 
and  mechanics  than  by  the  advance  which  will  be  shown  in  the  methods  of  teaching 
the  blind  and  the  weak-minded,  and  the  development  of  articulate  vocalization  in 
the  deaf-mute. 

It  is  a  pity  that  the  material  effects  of  beauty,  vastness,  and  grandeur  in  the  ex- 
hibition at  Chicago  have  been  allowed  to  eclipse  everything  else.  If  a  million  or  so 
less  had  been  expended  upon  the  buildings  the  average  spectator  would  have  been 
unconscious  of  loss,  and  if  half  the  money  thus  saved  had  been  spent  in  bringing  to 
Chicago  the  savants  in  every  branch  of  learning  from  the  whole  civilized  world  and 
sending  them  home  again  without  expense  to  themselves,  the  investment  would  have 
added  untold  riches  of  thought  and  experience  to  the  world  of  arts  and  letters. 

JOHN  S.  WHITE. 


30112040674233 


